I Cannot Imagine Life without Art and Poetry: Luana Stebule

[Luana Stebule is a Lithuanian poet and extra-ordinary artist. She left her native land and got settled in London. She writes in English. Her art works have been recognized as a new thing in Europe. She has recently received AIMS TOP 60 Master Award which is also considered the ‘Oscar of the Visual Art’. Her poetry beautifully evokes nostalgia and truly portrays the trauma she has been a part of. Presented herewith is the edited excerpt of an interview Uday Adhikari of the Gorkha Times took with Luana Stebule.]

Your mother tongue is presumably Lithuanian and yet you write in English. It is interesting to know how the shift happened.

 
Yes, my mother tongue is Lithuanian, but in 2013 I moved to England where I have been living now for almost a decade, and where my creativity has continued. I have immersed myself into the English language, its literature and culture. Lithuania is a very small country, with a population of only some 2.5 million people. How many people around the world are able to read in Lithuanian? To write in Lithuanian is to address only a very select few, whereas English has become a global language and in its breadth and diversity I am addressing a much wider audience. English also has an ability to express a substantial degree of subtlety and nuance in which I revel as a crafter in words. There is also the added bonus that so many of my fellow linguists are able to translate from English into their own language as has already occurred including into Turkish, Italian, Hindu, Spanish and many others. This certainly would not have happened had I continued, as with my previously published books, for it to be solely in Lithuanian.

My last book Ephemeral Awaking is available on Amazon which on its own is the biggest bookstore in America and England. I know from so many people who have contacted me that people from the USA, Canada, China and many more countries have bought my book and enjoyed it. Of course, there is always the risk that any single book will disappear amongst the thousands of new books being published in English every year and appearing on the market shelves either in reality or virtual commerce of the internet. I still value and respect my mother tongue but to write in English is to follow in the footsteps of many esteemed writers before me and certainly many more to come.

It seems you are giving equal space to poetry and art in your life. When did you develop such interest? Did you have any inspiration at home? 

Quite honestly it is something I have been driven to do since childhood. The last decade I have spent more time on my paintings, inspired, impressed, and obsessed with new forms, compositions and colors. I discovered something new I haven’t seen in other contemporary paintings. Of course, I am writing poems, but not as much at this moment. I have a secret, I am pregnant with my new book as the English colloquially put it ‘as a bun in the oven’ but when it will emerge fully baked or ‘ready to pop’ is as yet to be decided. It will though be a novel, but the fledgling has yet to hatch from its creative egg!! I wrote my first poem in 1972 and remember it well.  I continued writing and after some 30 poems with anxiety and dread showed the accumulated works to my teacher of the Lithuanian language and literature at the time, with a somewhat unusual surname of Mrs. Donkey. The teacher gave me feedback – 4 pages of analysis and criticism – probably all justified and correct. Such disparaging remarks and lack of encouragement only hurt and upset the immature 14 year old school girl. Such harsh treatment and lack of encouragement to continue to write, led me to burn the poems.  However I do not easily get deterred and after a few months I again started writing. A year and a new teacher later this individual liked my poems very much and by suggestions of borrowing books introduced me to many of the most famous poets and writers.

We continued communication by letters after my secondary schooling finished and my poetic endeavors continue on a periodic basis to this day. What a difference a teacher makes – I am so grateful to this beautiful lady and a very good teacher by the name of Svetlana Griadova.

Of course art studies at college, with subsequent employment for many years in Kaunas Musical Theatre, marriage, subsequent divorce and having to raise 3 children as a single mum, as well as other occupations took their toll on the effort devoted to my artistic endeavors. Spare time though was still found. I have written 3 poetry books, gratefully subsidized by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture,  Suskamba ir nepaliecia published in 2000, Veluojantys in 2006 and  Atminties smelio laikrodis in 2013. All my life I have been surrounded by poets and I was still avidly reading books — the majority of which were given to me as presents, though I grew up in a house full of books, and from childhood I was reading a lot. My friends and fellow poets and I had long and interesting discussions and opinions about each other’s poetry.

I often visit your Facebook wall to see your paintings. You are a very devoted artist and I feel you are living for your painting. What led you towards painting?

Yes, I cannot imagine my life without art and poetry it is everything that I have in my life, and I would be happy if I discovered something new and interesting in the world of the visual performance, but usually I am not satisfied, and I am always working in progress. A new concept of colors and forms leads me to paintings.

“The flame of house’’… These lines are taken from your poem “Emotion” and your creations, more or less, often focus on this sentiment. I wonder if such feelings echo you past life.

 In 1996 my aunt’s house burn down, which was of particular significance as this was where I had spent my childhood. Later, inspired by this tragic event, I wrote this poem. Yes, similar emotions follow me all the time. My life from childhood was slightly complicated and full of drama. I always was a white crow (in Lithuanian someone who was set apart from the rest i.e. from the majority black crows). But I have had a very interesting life and all the stresses have made me stronger.

Now you live in London, the capital of a country that has seen many ups and downs including Brexit. How is your life in Britain as an artist or poet?

I love England and I think, each country has ups and downs. I cannot feel any differences after Brexit, though I have a privileged life compared to many. My life here is more interesting and is full of new discoveries, travels and new experiences. 9 years ago, I met my partner Colin Undy, a typical Englishmen – gentlemen. I have the possibility to paint and write, without much worry about money. Painting and writing are of course the most important thing in my life! I live now largely in solitude without much communication with other artists or poets. I have had several exhibitions in London, but I realize that most British artists are significantly introspective. I am on my own with my thoughts and observations which is something I enjoy. In Lithuania I was very sociable, here – unsociable, though the present Covid pandemic has not helped with most exhibitions and much travel cancelled. In life there must be a balance! But I am still communicating and exhibiting with my artworks in the Art Galleries around the world. Only in 2018 did I become visible to the Art Word on the Internet, I set up my website and submitted artworks into Art Galleries online since 2018 and have received a number of recognitions. In 2019 the International Art Market MagazineI selected me to be on the Gold List as one of the Top Artists of Today. My artworks are selected into art anthologies, Important World Artists 2020 and International Current Masters 2021 the publisher is Artavita, USA.  I was awarded the 3rd International Leonardo Da Vinci Prize, the New York City Prize. My artworks have also been selected into a number of books The Great Masters of Contemporary Art 2020 and Best 2021 Modern and Contemporary Artists. Recently, in the US I was awarded by the ATIM’S TOP 60 MASTERS award, in America this award has the nickname ‘Oscars’ of the visual art. It would never happened if I communicated only in Lithuanian.  In this small country I have been immersed in a very narrow circle of the people and places. Of course, I have had a lot of exhibitions and publications and was selling quiet well.

In your poem, I can detect a longing for your childhood. How do you remember your early days?

Yes, my childhood was an enormous part of my life, and everything is inside me, sometimes emotions and memories come in the forms of poems, it is natural. My childhood was perhaps good. A lot of different things happened. Especially in the summertime I was particularly happy, and I know it.

In one of your poems, you have compared your life with the underground metro. Would you like to elaborate more?

When I was writing this poem, I had the most difficult period in my life. And feeling that I was in the darkness, on the same train and moving forwards and backwards without any hopes to escape.  I cannot be the only one who dreads such a form of transport. But I get over such depressive thoughts. I am strong!

Europe witnessed renaissance in literature and arts and you’re a good student in both. Are there any artists and writers whom you would like to mention as inspiration for your creative life?

 
Yes, I admire and like a lot of European writers and artists. I don’t have one or two favorites – I like too many… anyway my favorites are A. Dante, W. Shakespeare, J.W. Goethe, and R. M. Rilke.  Ch. Baudelaire, S. Plath, T.S. Eliot, W. Shymborska, S. Geda. Painters – Velasquez, L. Da Vinci, H. Matisse, Picasso, V. Van Gogh, M. Rothko. I saw a lot of paintings these artists. But the majority of my inspiration comes from external influences – those from outside the usual realms of literature and art.

I believe that all my inspirations come from immortality, God and eternity. It is the deepest, spiritual level, I usually listen to my intuition and inner voice.

Your poem and art reveal a spiritual bend. What leads you towards such a state?

Perhaps everything comes from my meditations, experiences and lifestyle, also, from the music, movies and journeys. I have a lot of different levels in my life. In Lithuania for over 20 years I was working in the Kauna’s Musical Teather as an artist. I saw a lot of operas, ballets and I love very much classical music. All these feelings and experiences are inside me and it appears in forms of paintings or poetry. One literature critic wrote, that from the poems you can tell a lot about the author’s biography and personality.

When I see the photographs on your Facebook wall, I feel a strong presence of nature all the time. Your art and poetry confirm this relationship between you and nature. How did you develop such affinity?

Nature plays a very important role in my life. I love traveling, and admire flowers and different landscapes. During the last 10 years I have visited many different islands; Madeira, Sicily, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Cyprus, Malta, and absorbed colors, culture and nature.  Also, we bought a new house with a big garden moving to Milton Keynes from London. I spend a lot of time redesigning our garden, planting (and replanting!) trees, bushes and roses. It is also poetry only on the different level.

You seem happy when you temporarily leave city life, but the problem is that we can’t leave the place where we live permanently. How would you react to that?

Milton Keynes is a large and expanding town, but unlike many, though it is largely modern, it incorporates many green areas between the residential ‘villages’. I also like very much that the majority of houses in England have gardens.  We are also members of National Trust and have visited a lot historical and cultural places in the UK, all photos of which I put on Facebook are from those sources.

You are often invited for art exhibition. How is modern art faring? Does it have same importance as Picasso made it or is consumerism on the rise?

In Lithuania I was exhibiting and selling artworks from the art galleries and exhibitions, without any activities online. I had only a Facebook page. The situation has changed when I moved to England. Few know me here and one way to communicate is by the Internet.

Now every single day I get too many invitations to exhibit my artworks around the world. But it costs a lot of money. In 2018 I participated in the New York Art Expo and I lost about £4000! Of course, it was good for publicity and contacts. In London a solo exhibition in a good art gallery often costs £5000 or more. In New York it is cheaper but shipping and taxes are very expensive. In the art galleries online Artsy or Saatchi gallery there are too many good artists selling pictures. The probability that somebody will buy my artwork is very small, especially as my style is unusual and strange – as they say here in England a bit of a Marmite (you either really love it or really hate it with few in between) taste! Yes, I have sold a few artworks in the Art Gallery co.uk. But I am not worried too much about it, my artworks aren’t cheap. For example, in a few hours I can spend easily £10,000 by submitting my artworks into prestigious exhibitions, but probability that I will sell is very low. It is Art Industry Machine! I don’t know whether it is good or bad, but as a business it must work for somebody – though largely it appears for business not the artist. Sometimes I get depressed if I think about it too deeply. But it is my way and my choice to be poet and an artist.

Obviously I wear two hats being both a poet and an artist. Another English saying is ‘Where I leave my hat (or in my case paint brush and pen) is my home.’

It has been a pleasure thinking about and answering your questions.

***

Here are some poems by Luana Stebule! Source: Ephemeral Awaking (2019)

The Walls

Deepest senses of eternity—embalmed
The intelligence built the pyramids to them
We expect to see the walls of Luxor Temple
Precise events that will happen in our life foretold
Written on the clouds before we were born
Don’t worry too much—Ka will wait for us
To guide our spirit over the Biggest River
We deserve a harmonious posthumous journey
We are only slime and weeds
The drift from the ark of Noah
Each body’s cell safely paddles
In the inner ocean of our body
Unknowing descendants of Adam and Eve
The big stars we are calling small
The small for us in truth transcend our reality
We are the prisoners of ephemeral feelings
Each second playing a dissonant self—destructive melody

***

Topical

All colors leave the landscape
Deciduous with each breath
I am looking into December’s scripts
The sharpest blade of understanding wounds me
I am bleeding and red color back in the shape of tulips
On white on white on white
I wane and my being is devalued
But remains unconvertible
In the juvenility I was a gold coin
Time has added silver but reduced my value
And finally sins have changed me to copper
Now I am only broken debased currency
However
This small dinar resulted in defeat of
The Great Roman empire
But I regain my prominence
Misunderstood
The moon in eclipse
Only it
Shows a way to the temple of silence
To your heart treasures
Jesus was reborn inside you again
Purity sublime honesty
Only at this moment the past has disappeared
It was poison in your memory

***

Misunderstood

That the past, the present, and the future always
Here and now
The moon wanes bringing pure enlightenment
Already ringing the uplifted music
An overture—a Christmas canticle
Greasepaint on faces—It is time for ghosts and elves
The year diminished into a short period of time
Just this particular evening
With hope we are looking around
No distance between the word and mind

****

Expectancy

My spirit’s garden flourishes
Sweltering blossom was given in advance
I have guests—insatiable hunger and passion
In my dream Eden and the serpent adder
Give resonant judgment—leaving with loneliness
Split amphora’s thimble, injured shards
From the photos again looking at you
Reminisce of a fabulous instant
Lusted to back in the past
You know live still
In the deepest corner of your consciousness
Essence of smell, sounds, and colors
Raw time would never bring back
This present moment already lives in the past
And designing the future
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
You re-approach
The inapprehensible precipice

***

The Race

In the hippodrome of life you will stay longer
Without choice
Expressing laughter the tear of hope
Again you are betting for the quickest horse
With understanding—time will demolish you
And win the race
Again you are guiltily looking around
Woven and knitting the rich tapestry of your life
Into your space enter new balls of wool—people
Each adding a new hue
Again you suspiciously look around
The days are of unfettered mares
Finally caught by a galloping decoy
Net of unwound thread
Finally you become a hypochondriac
Forgetting rules of falsehood
Again obsessiveness
Plunders the idiosyncrasies of life

****