Ruta Jusionyte - The great Hare

The great Hare – Ruta Jusionyte

A monumental hare, seated cross-legged with folded arms, gazes at the viewer through its large almond-shaped eyes. Its upright ears bring a touch of playfulness to this totemic figure, evoking both childhood tales and the temperance of an old sage.

This stoneware sculpture depicts an anthropomorphic hare with elongated proportions. Seated cross-legged, its slender limbs and deep gaze suggest the serenity of an ascetic figure, while the upright ears recall the cunning hero of fables.

To create her figures, Ruta Jusionyte builds the clay from the ground upward, without preliminary sketches or maquettes, modelling first the feet, then the legs, torso, and finally the head, before carving the large, deep eyes that seem to look into an inner world. This slow process preserves the irregularities of the material and gives the work a deeply sensitive presence.

Throughout her work, the artist combines human bodies with animal heads to question our own animal nature and the symbolism of European tales. The hare, symbol of swiftness, kindness, and fertility, returns frequently within her bestiary. Humour and tenderness run through the piece; the elegance of the posture and the hint of a smile convey a quiet sense of happiness. Rather than imposing a fixed interpretation, Jusionyte invites each viewer to project their own story onto these archetypal figures.

Over the years, Ruta Jusionyte has developed an immediately recognisable body of work at the crossroads of Neo-Expressionism, Symbolist Romanticism, and Magical Realism. Born in Lithuania in 1978, she now lives and works in France and has established herself as a significant figure on the contemporary European art scene, blending expressionist intensity with symbolic romanticism.

Her work explores the relationships between humans and animals. Her hybrid sculptures reveal a fascination with fragility and strength, innocence and bestiality, always infused with a discreet touch of irony.

Winner of the Académie des Beaux-Arts Prize in 2019, Ruta Jusionyte is now highly sought after by collectors drawn to deeply embodied painting and sculpture, where emotion and visual intensity meet.