A Weary Guitar

According to the art researcher Rasa Andriušytė, ‘Small-scale sculpture by Petras Mazūras does not have specific connections with a single historical style, except for stronger links to the philosophy and aesthetic ideals of past centuries.’* The artist has always been fascinated by the relationship between sculptural expression and tools and technology. He believes that the technique dictates the form, and the form dictates the content. It is probably not by chance that Petras Mazūras (b. 1949) was one of the pioneers of original bronze casting in Lithuania, having set up a foundry in the Jeruzalė district of Vilnius in the 1970s, and later establishing a second foundry at the M.K. Čiurlionis School of Art, where he introduced several generations of future sculptors to this technique. The shapes of Mazūras’ sculptures are sensual, reflecting his desire to transcend the physical properties of stone and metal, transforming them into something else, such as a body or a plant; or an object, as in the case of this sculpture. The recognisable shape of the guitar appears altered, as if it is coming alive, transforming from an inanimate object into a part of living nature. This moment of transition, of becoming, is characteristic of Mazūras’ sculptural work, as is his innovative combination of stone and metal in a single piece.

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

* Skulptūra 1975–1990. Aidai, Vilnius, 1997, p. 145.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025

According to the art researcher Rasa Andriušytė, ‘Small-scale sculpture by Petras Mazūras does not have specific connections with a single historical style, except for stronger links to the philosophy and aesthetic ideals of past centuries.’* The artist has always been fascinated by the relationship between sculptural expression and tools and technology. He believes that the technique dictates the form, and the form dictates the content. It is probably not by chance that Petras Mazūras (b. 1949) was one of the pioneers of original bronze casting in Lithuania, having set up a foundry in the Jeruzalė district of Vilnius in the 1970s, and later establishing a second foundry at the M.K. Čiurlionis School of Art, where he introduced several generations of future sculptors to this technique. The shapes of Mazūras’ sculptures are sensual, reflecting his desire to transcend the physical properties of stone and metal, transforming them into something else, such as a body or a plant; or an object, as in the case of this sculpture. The recognisable shape of the guitar appears altered, as if it is coming alive, transforming from an inanimate object into a part of living nature. This moment of transition, of becoming, is characteristic of Mazūras’ sculptural work, as is his innovative combination of stone and metal in a single piece.

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

* Skulptūra 1975–1990. Aidai, Vilnius, 1997, p. 145.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025