about the artist
Born and raised in Toronto, Rasa Pavilanis moved to Montreal in 1991. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Honour's degree from the University of Guelph after which followed courses in Graphic Design and Advertising at Humber College and Illustration at Ontario College of Art. In Montreal, Pavilanis continued art studies at the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts while working as a freelance medical illustrator. Subsequently pursuing Painting and Drawing at Concordia University, she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts, graduating with distinction. In 2007, Pavilanis was awarded the Stanley Mills Purchase Prize for the painting "Descending Saule".
Pavilanis' art stresses a strong affinity to nature. As the complexity of technology draws into a hectic, metropolitan modern life, Pavilanis invites the viewer to contemplate the natural environment while reflecting on a human need for contact with nature and for action in its preservation. The series of paintings "Into the wooded garden", "Winter cycles", "Summertime" and "Just horses" reflect the "biophilia hypothesis"1 that suggests we have a primal need for nature as we are evolved from all things natural.
1 Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia, (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1984)