As seen in this pencil on paper work titled ‘Cynara, Second Violinist Prepares for a Concert’, contemporary artist Austė creates an elegant piece which combines her delicate use of line with her fanciful approach to figuration. Portraying a young woman applying blush, Austė subtly alludes to archetypes of beauty, placing a black swan above the figure’s head and recalling notions of prescribed femininity.

Having gained notoriety in the 1980’s for her provocative works on paper, American artist Austė creates fascinating dreamscapes filled with surreal figures, decorative elements, and feminist overtones. Her compositions maintain a whimsical quality to them, infusing Lithuanian folk art motifs with allusions to low-culture imagery. Austė received her BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art and her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL). The artist has exhibited at numerous venues including Hamilton Gallery of Contemporary Art (New York, NY), Nancy Lurie Gallery (Chicago, IL), and most recently Mitchell Algus Gallery (New York, NY), among others.