Petras Lukosius: "I only paint light"

2022-10-06

Petras Lukosius paintings are sold all over the world, and he is represented by several galleries in Norway and in the USA. His paintings are easy to recognize, shining with a mysterious glow as though the light itself emerge from the canvas. 

– Without light there will be no world at all. What we see is a conclusion of light bouncing, and we can see the same thing very differently depending on the light. Same thing, different light, different meaning.

Born in Lithuania, Petras Lukosius started art school already as a child. At first, he was negatively evaluated by his teachers because he did not paint as the other children.

– To me it was very childish to draw that way, so I tried to do something different that no one else did. The teacher thought there was something wrong with me because I was not following the program. 

From the 4th grade he got accepted by the teacher who started seeing his paintings in a different way, and suddenly he got the highest grade. For twelve years he studied art and when he graduated from the Klaipeda Branch of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, he started his carrier as a painter.

To get the depth in the painting Petras Lukosius works with a lot of layers, creating structure and a sense of 3D, and with a stick he lets the details emerge on the canvas. The periods in which he creates are during autumn, winter and springtime, in summer he makes time for exhibitions. When he has a creative period he normally buys two weeks worth of food and then he doesn't leave his studio. 

– The process starts with several sketches with different perspectives, then I choose my palette depending on if it is morning, day or evening.

Petras Lukosius never uses black and prefers to mix his own colour palette.

– You don’t have to look far for inspiration. We are surrounded by beautiful forests, seas and old towns. If you think about the past and you start to draw, it will fill up with emotion. It brings some mystic into the painting, and a lot of feeling and memories. You can take any object on the canvas and by using the light you can make it amazing. I want the forests to feel calming, cosy and safe, and to create a wish for you to walk there.

Since childhood Petras Lukosios has nurtured a dream of making the painting of his life, something really big to which he can say “this is it”. The only limitation is the size of the studio and the canvases, and so far he has gotten to 2x3 meters. In the mean time he follows smaller goals, trying out new themes, while letting the light shine on.

– If you turn the lights off in a room so you have very little light and you see the light coming from your painting, then the mission is accomplished. 

Se more of Petras Lukosius art here!

Matilda Wirström