EMILIJA ŠKARNULYTĖ

Approaching the camera as a future-archaeological tool, Škarnulytė permeates the layers of deep time: from neutrino ghosts of the universe to decommissioned nuclear power plants, forgotten underwater cities and uncanny natural phenomena become subjects of submerged studies, guided by human and non-human entanglements. She articulates post-human counter-mythologies and archaeological considerations of futurity, seamlessly melding science and culture to probe realms ranging from the cosmic and geological to the ecological and political. The remnants of modernity, aphotic recesses of the Earth’s aqueous body as much as the human psyche tide the uncharted waters of Škarnulytė’s interdisciplinary endeavours, which reveal the traces of human hubris and allure new orientations for connection and sensemaking outside the scales of our anthropocentric age.

Winner of the Ars Fennica Award 2023 and the 2019 Future Generation Art Prize, Škarnulytė recently presented works at Gwangju Biennale, Henie Onstad Triennale, Vilnius Biennale, and Helsinki Biennale. Solo exhibitions include: Kunsthall Trondheim (2024); Kunsthaus Göttingen (2024); Ferme-Asile, Sion (2023); Tate Modern, London (2021); Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel/Bienne (2021); Den Frie, Copenhagen (2021); National Gallery of Vilnius (2021); Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2017); and Contemporary Art Centre CAC of Vilnius (2015). She represented Lithuania at the XXII Triennale di Milano and participated in the Baltic Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale as well as the group exhibition Penumbra, organised by the Fondazione In Between Art Film on the occasion of the 59th Venice Biennale. Her films are found in the collections of IFA, Kadist Foundation and Centre Pompidou, and have been screened at the Serpentine Gallery, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Museum of Modern Art in New York, and numerous film festivals. In October 2025, Škarnulytė will open her solo exhibition at Tate St Ives, Cornwall.