Paulė Bocullaitė on art, asphalt and childhood 3

Jurga Tumasonytė
www.kamane.lt, 2016-05-25
Eitvydas Doškus' photo

In brief: I knew that Paulė Bocullaitė is busy spinning in a centrifuge of jobs: she paints, works in theater, creates advertising and participates in art projects. In addition, this year she won a Golden Stage Cross for the best stage and costume designer. Young and talented artist grew up in a family of theatricals, studied in art schools and art academy.

I wondered where Paulė spent her childhood in Kaunas. She says: "I grew up in the center, in the one same apartment, so during my childhood the whole Kaunas to me was Laisvės Avenue. Usually my walk would start from the fountain towards the Town Hall and back. Sure, I would also go with other children to the nearby kindergarten to sway on the swings. There was also a large yard nearby - it's a pity that today's children have stopped playing in the yard and now that yard has turned into a parking lot."

I assume that Paulė Bocculaitė spent her childhood in theatre with her parents and I wonder whether she thought of becoming an actress. Paulė says that there were short episodes when she wanted that, "After all, I did spend a lot of time in theatre - my mother worked at the Kaunas State Drama Theatre and my father would migrate to different theaters (later on he became the head artist of Kaunas Chamber Theatre). I remember, there was this room at the Drama Theatre, full of couches. I would sit among actors and listen how they puff their cigarettes and talk quietly."

I asked the artist if she would be able to survive only from her art. Paulė Bocculaitė says, "All the time I take on additional activities; for three years I worked for an advertising agency and if I only worked on art projects, I am not sure if I would be able to survive. Maybe I would be able to just dive into theatre? But I have a lot of different jobs, so I doubt it would work out."

I asked Paulė to tell about her relationship with books, music, films and contemporary art. Artist says that her favorite writer since adolescence is Kurt Vonegut. "And recently I started reading very diverse books, from Ernst Gombrich, Alain de Boton to Romain Gary or Czeslaw Milosz. Music is very important in my life. I go to concerts, because more and more great performers come to Lithuania. Many of them belong to a very specific genre and I am truly glad they find their listener in Lithuania. The last art exhibition I liked was of Š. Sauka, no matter how banal that sounds. I would not even say that I prefer his painting style that much, but in that exhibition I was overcome by a good feeling. I completely immersed myself in the Sauka's world - what a lovely therapy."

 


Read comments
Write your comment
*
*