Today we’re introducing our last artist joining us this summer – travel writer, foodie, cook-book author and just a cool girl Igne from Lithuania.

“Art is a universal language. It’s a great way to spread ideas, to educate, inspire and uplift people. I think it can be used for many good and positive things, even if that means shocking people with something they don’t really want to know or see”, – Igne

What’s your story, Igne?

I am a freelance translator and writer born and raised in Lithuania. Currently living in Klaipeda – a seaside town I fell in love with more than 10 years ago and finally get to call home. I’m a passionate reader, traveler and a self-proclaimed foodie (I actually run a food blog in Lithuanian).

What do you focus on in your writing, what are your passions?

My writing reflects my passions and interests – I love writing about food, culture & travels. I believe that written word is very powerful, so I try to use it consciously. Personally, I like when texts are both slightly ironic and heartfelt (but not in the sappy way!) and I strive to incorporate that into my writing. I love it when people tell me they’ve discovered something new through me and my writing.

What’s your superpower?

My intuition. I’ve predicted several events. Sadly, not the happy ones.

What are your proudest achievements so far?

Last year I published a recipe book in Lithuanian about East Asian cuisine – I guess I could call it the highlight of my professional life so far. I also rode one of the world’s tallest and fastest roller coasters and lived to tell the tale (let it be known that I am terrified of heights).

What inspires you to create and in general?

People. We are wonderful and terrifying creatures all at the same time and it fascinates and inspires me very much. The beauty of the world is another thing that brings me great inspiration, especially if I get to spend time by the sea.

How does art help to make the world a better place?

Art is a universal language. It’s a great way to spread ideas, to educate, inspire and uplift people. I think it can be used for many good and positive things, even if that means shocking people with something they don’t really want to know or see.

What are your nearest goals?

I want to establish myself as a travel writer and finally finish that novel I started last summer! Recently, my parents decided to renovate my old room and I found dozens of unfinished novels, story ideas, poems and even one play! The sheer quantity blew me away – I’d had completely forgotten how prolific I used to be in high school and university! So now I’m feeling super motivated to do more.

Where can we find you online?

I’m semi-active on Instagram. I actually have two profiles there – one for myself (@igne_ale) and one for food (@ignes_puodas). The first one should come with a warning, though, – I love posting pictures of my dog Boogie Woogie.

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This summer we’re having 3 amazing artists doing their residencies at our retreat center. We love how art and conversation can elevate our spirits, wellbeing and change perspective on life.

Meet our first artist – writer Jade McSorley from London. Her passions are traveling, yoga, fashion and environmental issues of todays world and that just rings so many bells here!

“Art is something which creates a conversation and I think, now more than ever, people need to communicate with one another to make the world a better place. And art can be created in such a number of ways it is good for the soul – to find that cathartic release, something that is a true, beautiful expression of you”, – Jade.

What’s your story, Jade?

I live in London but originally from the North of England (with a strong accent to prove it!) I have been a model for 10 years which has allowed me to travel to many places all over the world and meet the most interesting of people. It means I have been in a fortunate position to explore and write alongside work – I currently write for the Twenty6 Magazine as the Travel Editor and I qualified as a Yoga Teacher in India last year. My friends, I guess, would describe me as half organised, with one foot on the ground, and half scatty, with my head sometimes in the clouds! My family and friends are my world – they are all a bit bonkers in the nicest of ways so they keep me entertained.

What do you focus on in your writing what are your passions?

My passions certainly focus around the environment and sustainable issues, particularly within Fashion and Travel. When you travel you get to see the most jaw-dropping, beautiful landscapes given to us by our Mother Nature and it’s impossible not to want to protect and preserve.  Interviewing inspirational people from all the over the world has allowed me to gain knowledge on the efforts and, unfortunately, lack of effort from industries affecting our little planet. Fashion, for instance, is a prominent factor which takes from nature and needs to give more back. I hope, through my writing, I can explore more ways of living sustainably, learn from pioneering advocates, and send a message about our environmental imprint through the choices we make.

What’s your superpower? 

I hope that my superpower is to bring out the best in people and make them feel comfortable! My other superpowers are that I can fly and shoot lasers from my eyes, but that’s a secret.

What are your proudest achievements so far?

I guess my proudest achievement is making the move to London and having the guts to start modelling. I am not the most confident but I have learnt to be confident enough to go for my goals, which I feel all started from the move to London – to go for things even if there is a possibility to fail.

How about your nearest future goals? 

I am currently applying for my Masters in Fashion Futures (all about sustainability in the fashion industry) at Central Saint Martins. I am working on the application, which is pretty difficult having not studied in so long, so this would be a massive achievement if I were to be accepted.

What inspires you to create and in general?

Nature inspires more – not only the nature of the world but the nature of people. I think everyone has their quirks and individualities and I love seeing that. It makes the world colourful.

You can find more about Jade here:

@jademcsorley and you can read some of her work at www.twenty6magazine.com

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Interview by Milda Urban, Summersalt Yoga retreat founder

Dimitra, who we have met at our retreat in Portugal, is a gentle, beautiful soul, a true and genuine artist, who just by her presence makes everyone somehow at ease or sometimes puts in a contemplative state.

She has started as a painter, installation artist, a filmmaker, but time and her path have brought Dimitra to sound which she uses to keep experimenting with and growing as an artist.

Dimitra has held a soundscaping workshop at the retreat, which got everyone extremely excited about the medium, she has also made a composition from the retreat that you can listen to at the end of the interview!

Dimitra, you are a Greek artist working in Amsterdam. What’s your background?

Ι am coming from Thessaloniki, a beautiful city in the north of Greece. Currently, I work and live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, constantly exploring the city and involving in multidisciplinary art projects.  Having recently graduated from a visual Fine Arts department, I am more interested in investigating the sound art field.  The core of my works at the moment is a continuing reflection and research on how sound and performance art, can act as an open, dynamic process.

 When did you realize that you wanted to become an artist and what were your first steps? How did your path look like? 

We have all been little artists and still are! If one is really interested and passionate about a subject in their lives, it is still a form of art. Since I remember myself, I was drawn into visual arts, music, and literature, while painting a lot as well. My first studies were in Graphic design and have worked as a graphic designer in my city, I was missing the economic stability. Since I am coming from an environment than doing other things than dealing with art is more important, I tried it out for some time, starting studying as a pharmacist and work as one as well. While having learned a lot from a more conventional profession and environment, I never stopped painting and have this need to travel and explore. And so I did, quitted a standard life to go travel and study Fine Arts in the Netherlands. For me, choosing to deal with the arts more professionally, in terms of learning more about the field, was dealing with myself and reality. It has to do with the means that one feels and interacts with the world. I truly enjoy learning and applying new skills all the time, and being in the arts, can potentially incorporate everything that one could be interested in.

Can you tell me more about your art?

I have always been painting, but while in the academy, I had the feeling that painting, as a framed object and product, couldn’t answer all my questions. After experimenting with non-narrative film and performance painting, I began thinking of compositional possibilities of sound, time, space, and the body. Visual arts and my interest in noise art started to compound, and begin to wonder about how sound might function differently depending on the social situation. For now, I am focusing more on an interdisciplinary format with live performance, instant compositions, and happenings with sound as a central element. I am into situations that engage with ideas from both ‘visual art’ and ‘sound art’, and require exploration between the aural and the visual experience. Where there is a synthesis between the aesthetics and narratives of both. I prefer the sound as a medium, because of how we process and use it to read the world both physically and culturally, of how this can be activated. For me, it is sounds and their arrangements that mode our societies.

We did a workshop about soundscaping at our retreat in Portugal retreat –what drew you into this interesting artistic expression and what does it bring to the person experimenting with it?

We did a workshop about soundscaping and aural perception, which made me really happy sharing it with you! We literally zoomed in on our aural environment, and with the help of audio recorders, we worked on our active listening and documenting our immediate surroundings.  We concentrated on walking, movement, and the relationship between the listening and the moving body through time, space, and place. In the end, everyone described the acoustic conditions and the sonic events that each experienced, discussed space, and how differently we tend to engage with it.  A soundscape is an auditory landscape that is simultaneously a physical environment and a way of perceiving it. Our culture doesn’t appreciate the emotional importance of hearing since we are mainly oriented toward visual communications, and this is why I am interested in investigating the field and share it with others. Active listening helps to focus and calm the mind; it purifies the consciousness through developing awareness of sound. Sometimes, a different reality is being revealed when a sound is being amplified, we understand something that we would otherwise miss and instantly making stronger connections between our listening bodies, our memories ad surroundings. Maybe it really brings to personal space for discovery and questioning the self in space and time.

What are the art project or projects you are most proud of and what are you looking forward to in the future?

Projects that I am proud of our projects that emerged from collaborations. Some of them are based on my ongoing project, “Multirealities”. It presents a live sound composition of the mixing of multiple soundscapes, situations, people and places as well as with the amplified sound of my heartbeat, through a heart detector device. All the performances can be heard and progress, as ‘real –time-heartbeat sound’ is being amplified and gradually mixed and synchronized with the other soundscapes, slowly creating a real-time track. You can imagine for example a violin player performing in Amsterdam, a person singing situated in Greece, and my actual heartbeat performance happening in an exhibition space in another city, all coming together through Skype, internet connections, and being mixed on the spot. It feels like a synchronized instant live composition.

Through this practice, I became increasingly interested in the dimensions of aesthetic listening, as well as on the aspects of immateriality, physicality, and disappearance of the present, the body. No matter how the electronic media had involved in the field, a performer’s primal instrument remains his physical, emotional, and mental tools. It comes also as an attempt to research how the listener can adopt a different form of attention as the work is removed from the objective physical dialogue between remote places and the mixing space where a combination of audio situations of elements being presented. I am definitely looking forward to developing more this concept in the future, as well as participating in different collaborations and organize more workshops. At the moment, I am applying for artist residencies mainly in Europe, it is a creative way to travel, meet people, and build new connections.

You are a Greek girl living in Amsterdam. How do these places differ, do you miss home?

The main difference between Greece and the Netherlands for me is the weather! The two places have lots of cultural differences as well.  Amsterdam is a European city that has a lot to offer, especially if one is interested in the cultural sector. What I really like is the openness of people and the multicultural vibe in the city, you can meet people from all over the world working and living together. In addition, I found it easier to travel to other countries when based in Amsterdam. I do miss home, the landscape, the sun, nature, the people, mainly the people; since people are making the places at the end. Frequently, I am using the sounds of Greece in my performances and installations. It is different for an artist as to the choices one has. The art scene in Greece, although interesting and growing at the moment, misses the international influence and funding opportunities for artists. Even so, the field that I work in, sound art, it’s not that developed in my country whilst in Amsterdam, there are already festivals and venues that support it. I feel content thinking of both places as home.

Listen do Dimitra’s soundscape composition from our Girls yoga&surf retreat in Portugal

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By Milda Urban, Summersalt Yoga founder

The incredibly talented artist and photographer Maya Kolega is a ray of sunshine and we were so lucky to have her taking photos and leading Yoga Life drawing classes at Summersalt Yoga this summer!

We’re chatting to this always smiling and happy soul about her photography, illustrations, and passion for travel!

What’s your background and when and how did you get into art and photography?

I grew up in Port Lincoln, South Australia. When I was young I would often look and admire the work of my father when he was working as a photographer in the 1980s. My Dad taught me how to work using film photography and ever since I haven’t looked back. I went on to University and completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts specializing in Photography. I have always worked closely with illustration also often combining the two.

What is the most important thing for you in your craft?

The entire process and the joy I get from the moment I release the shutter to then seeing the final print in an exhibition being enjoyed by others.

What inspires you to do your work?  

I enjoy creating, I have a passion for all things related to art and I feel lucky to be able to live my life doing something I love. I am always striving for the next step, sometimes it takes to travel, a residency, or meeting new people to get there.

Who do you love photographing the most?

I love photographing people who have a story to tell or people who without speaking to you just know have experienced great things in life.

How would you describe your style?  

I am always interested in composition. When I am looking through the viewfinder, the composition is always what draws me to pull the trigger.

Can you describe your drawing style, focus, inspiration?

I like to use illustrations to create things I cannot with a camera. Often because of this my illustrations are surreal like depictions of the world.

You do life drawing classes – why did you decide to start them and what do they give to you as a teacher?

I am interested in the process of healing through art creation and the rewarding feeling you have when looking at a finished art piece. My classes are not necessarily about perfecting a drawing, I have created these classes to open up new doors for people they didn’t know existed, the chance to explore something new and create something that they didn’t expect they could.

What is your most proud achievement so far?

My most proud achievement was getting through 7 months of solo travel around Europe in 2016. By the end of the trip, I had been an Artist in Residence in Croatia as well as exhibiting twice whilst there and also completed a 6-week intensive residency in Spain. I came back to Australia with many new bodies of work and inspiration.

You obviously love to travel – what places did you like most and why, how do you capture them in your work and what’s next on your list?

I enjoy spending the majority of my travels in smaller places that are less touched by tourists. I love to get to know the locals and their day-to-day routine which usually involves staying in each place for longer periods of time. During the phase of getting to know the true lifestyle of a place, I work to capture this in either photography or illustration creating work that tells a story. I want to travel to America next, I have been there before but I am interested to go back alone and get to know the way of living there… I see so much on social media and in the news about America and I am interested to go there to make my own decision about the people and culture.

For anyone looking to embark on their own journey as an artist or just as anything else – what would you say to encourage and inspire?

Do what you enjoy doing. If we are following a path to success in happiness it will eventually be a path of success in all areas. Also part of being an artist is rejection- overcome this rejection and keep striving to achieve because eventually if you continue to be passionate about what you are doing then you will find success.

What’s next for you? What are you looking to achieve? 

I am interested in traveling a little more this year and hopefully completing another residency in America. This year I also hope to finish an ongoing project of mine called “LOCALS” and turning it into a book as well as an exhibition. I am also looking into studying Art Therapy.

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