Today we’d like to introduce you to Inga Guzyte.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Born in Lithuania, I was mostly raised in West Germany and migrated alone to the USA. Growing up in Germany, I found skateboarding during a time when my mother had to jump countries for more work opportunities in order to support my brother and me… so most of the time it was just my brother and me trying to figure out life. My mother was this loving, caring person on the phone who was there for us whenever we needed her although being so far away. Skateboarding gave my brother and me something that we both were missing, a new family of friends, a place we felt like we belonged to coming from a different country. We both were just young teenagers at that time. After graduating high school in Germany, I made the decision to go study English in the USA.
I randomly chose to come to Santa Barbara. All I knew was that I wanted to come to a place where skateboarding originated, the west coast. And I found myself improving my English skills by spending my time at the skate park. I felt very welcome and decided to return and study art at the Santa Barbara City College. I had a lot of great teachers who opened doors to a whole new world of art for me. Until that time, I only knew how to use pen and pencil…when I left college, I knew I could become a full-time artist. And so my journey as a sculpture artist began.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My struggles through life were emotional burdens such as my father rejecting me because I was a girl. Growing up without a dad and mostly without a mom was quite challenging in general. Taking care of my brother when all I wanted to do as a teenage girl was to be one, all that was quite a journey but it made us bond even more. Feeling like I left my brother behind when I left for USA to pursue my dreams was another emotional burden. Migrating to a whole new country as a kid without knowing the language had it’s own challenges. But challenges don’t always have to be negative, they very well can turn into positive personal growth.
Please tell us more about your art.
I consider myself a sculpture artist who makes portraits using recycled skateboard graphics.
I have an Associates of Art degree in Art Studio Emphasis. However, today, the techniques I am using to construct my sculptural-portraiture pieces are self-taught. The choice of material to express my intentions is rooted in my early teenage years growing up in Germany, where an unbreakable bond with the street culture of skateboarding was created. Over the years, I learned to see the potential in old skateboards: old graphics, scrapes, scratches, letters, words, and marks that streets could only give you and stories that streets could only tell you. Every day I choose to use broken skateboards as my medium to create relief like portraits that are inspired by real-life stories and social justice issues. Today I work hard to combine sculpture and portraiture.
My production process is straightforward. At first, I deconstruct the material with a scroll saw into the shapes and colors I need, and then I proceed to inlay every color piece into each other to create a dimensional quality to my work. All scratches, colors and marks are part of the original piece of material and all that is carefully and intentionally selected to be part of every subject I chose to create. Like other artists, I deal with different things in my life, so my personal experiences help me choose the stories I want to tell. My goal is to meld opposite worlds together to create work that makes you stop and think. At the same time, I want to empower women to think for themselves and to strive not for equality but for even better things. My latest body of work is called “Rebel Women”, where I portray women of influence who have important stories to tell—adding my own personal twist. My current series “Kindred Spirits” is in “The New Vanguard III” exhibition at MOAH Museum in Lancaster, CA until the end of the year 2020.
Being rejected by my father because I was a girl put a huge emotional burden on me and set me onto the path of always having to prove myself as a female in a male-dominated world. Ironically, every world I chose was male-dominated—from skateboarding to woodworking and sculpture. Nevertheless, I decided to become an artist.
I chose to create female portraits because I found something in their personal story to admire. The more I think about their stories, the more resilience I gain myself. Their courage and strength transferred to me. I feel stronger and have more hope for the future. I want to share their stories not because they are unique but because they are not. Every woman out there can be an advocate for positive change in this world. Many can’t wait for change to happen.
I am proud of what my work represents and the work I do is also what sets me apart.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think my father rejecting me was good luck in a way, because I would not have moved to Germany and discovered skateboarding otherwise. Lithuania was still a developing country at that time when I left, and skateboarding was never heard off. A lot has changed since then, now Lithuania has a growing skateboarding community and even a big contemporary art museum in the beautiful city of Vilnius. I am very proud of my little country.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ingaguzyte.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @ingaguzyteart
Image Credit:
Profile picture (personal photo) credit goes to: Chris Orwig
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