""It's always difficult for an artist to talk about his art or vision, since he is used to doing that with his brush. My personal belief is that - one may curse the name of the Son and be granted forgiveness, one may curse even the name of the Father and still be granted forgiveness, yet no forgiveness will ever be granted to the one who dares to curse the Spirit. For the Spirit is sacred and eternal. In all my deeds, I try my best to portray this immortal Spirit. This Spirit that against all odds, dwells in each human being and thrives in this complicated world of ours. For me, this visualization of the Spirit - is the sense of my art and my life. And it is in the core of everything that I do, be it my writing, painting, installations, theater, films, music, practice and teaching.

We, people, possess tremendous inner resources, but we are not even acquainted with them. The Akashic Records, the noosphere of the Earth, the informational center of the universe - everything the ancients were talking about about - it all exists, but in our subjectivity. And to express this inner potential of a human being via art in all its forms, became the meaning of my life. I have been interested in art since childhood.

Music, painting, theater, poetry, literature - this entire world has always been taking an important place in my life. At the same time, I got interested in philosophy and psychology. It was a kind of protest against the Soviet reality. As we all remember, Lenin excluded the study of logic from the university curriculum, and then Stalin excluded psychology. And I decided to study psychology as a sign of disagreement. Psychology and art were two parallels which for me, always went together, and found their resolution in my works, be it installations, paintings, film, photography or performance art. I thrive on the concept of Space conveyed to the viewer via art form. Space is unique. I take it differently then most people do. Because it sounds for me, it bares some information. The sound of the space is truly magic. You know, music for me is the other side of painting and painting is the other side of music. Both inspire me immensely. This dual passion for music and art, gave birth to many series of works, such as "Wondering Stars". When painting these various circular shapes, I envisioned them as the vinyl record tracks. Yes, like the CD exactly. And if you follow its circular lines, you can truly hear the music. I think I should spread a rumour, saying that if processed with laser it can play music. No, serious - for me, the top of abstraction is music and improvisation. And here you can find exactly that - the music of space.

While image is immensely important to me, I also thrive on the beauty of the - pure concept. It tickles your mind ever so gently, yet you can't truly feel an emotional touch. It is the essence and the brilliance of pure mind and thought. Such creative visions comes suddenly, unexpectedly. Not long ago, I was driving a car, and suddenly I realize that the letter "W" is an inverted "M", its reflection in the water on the road. And thus the painting "Man/Woman" was born. Such serendipitous, spontaneous epiphanies gave birth to many of my works.

While thriving on conceptualism, I still strongly believe, that there is no inner or personal progress without emotional connection with art. What is art? It is something that has overcome Time. It is something that tells us not about the things one has done in the surrounding world, but about the person itself, and his inside. And there is so much inside.

Of course some artists influenced me more, some less. For example Van Gogh or Modigliani, I also love Decadence, "The World of Art". It is exquisite. I love portraits by Kramskoi. I like Dali. He is genius. But I like his book "Diary of a Genius" even more. My passion for color and pure color probably comes from my love for Petrov-Vodkin. I adore him. He uses icon-painting methods. I love clarity. I like expressionists very much, including the American abstract expressionism by Pollack, and others. I love Michelangelo and Caravaggio, Leonardo and Bosch, Rothko and Arshile Gorky, Warhol and Basquiat, Malevich, Munch, Kandinsky, De Kooning, Raushenberg, Lucian Freud, Whistler, Bacon, Koons, Cattelan, Duchamp and Balla to name just a few. These are the things that touch me greatly, which I can join emotionally.

These and many many more, are my art academy, are my school, are my teachers. I never got art education. Never went to art academy or studied art in university. Once I tried to take lessons in St. Petersburg. I found the best art teacher. I took one lesson, paid him for three and didn't attend the lessons anymore. I realized that if I go on learning from him, I would no longer be a painter, no longer be an artist.

I learned from art itself and created non stop, each day of my life. And at these moment of creation only a few things exist: me, the canvas, the paint and the brush. And that's it. And nothing else, and nobody else, even if theres a huge crowd of people sitting next door. I spend years by easel and creating in my studio, regardless of mood, and every single day. For me, creation - is the vital element of life. Its magic potion. Its blood. As long as I create - I live."

Igor Kalinauskas