Portrait of Jolanta Talaikiene, Lithuanian-American contemporary symbolist painter

THE ARTIST

Jolanta Talaikiene, Contemporary Symbolist Painter

Jolanta Talaikiene was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1965, and grew up among the city's Baroque churches, folk traditions and northern light. In 2011 she moved to the United States, where painting became her sanctuary and her voice.

Her language developed through what she calls the colors of moonlight: surreal figures, hidden symbolism and a mystical, nocturnal mood. She weaves together science, mythology and spiritual archetypes to build worlds that feel at once dreamlike and exactingly deliberate. Her figures wear porcelain faces and lace collars; fish carry windows; moths gather on cloaks. Each painting is built in fine, layered acrylic over many weeks, and she completes only a small number each year.

A member of an international art academy in France since 2017, she lives and works in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey.

Artistic approach

“I work in the language of surrealism and symbolism. Feelings, dreams and imagination inspire my paintings, and I put a great deal of philosophical thought into each one. My goal is for every viewer to find something of their own in the work: to open their mind to new visual and philosophical experiences, and to leave them waiting to see more.”

Every work is painted entirely by hand by the artist. No AI is used at any stage.

Recognition

Awards and exhibitions

Award-winning and exhibited works, newest first. IGAPC stands for International Galleries and Art Professionals Choices, Mondial Art Academia (Annual World Art Academy contest).

Gold Medal certificate, Sir Daniel K. Winn Award 2025, awarded to Jolanta Talaikiene for Dreams From Childhood
Gold Medal, Sir Daniel K. Winn Award, 2025, for Dreams From Childhood
  1. Dreams From Childhood by Jolanta Talaikiene, a hare-masked girl holding a pinwheel among reeds, with fish drifting overhead, acrylic on canvas

    Dreams From Childhood

    • 2025Gold Medal, Sir Daniel K. Winn Award, International Art Professionals Awards, Mondial Art Academia
    • 2025Choice of Art Confidential Magazine, California
    • 2025Choice of Art Garage Istanbul, Turkey
    • 2025Honorable Mention, Surrealism and Symbolism, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  2. Keys to Heaven by Jolanta Talaikiene, a goggled figure among hooded faces beneath airships and clouds, acrylic on canvas

    Keys to Heaven

    • 2025Honorable Mention, Naive Art, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  3. The Procession by Jolanta Talaikiene, symbolist painting, acrylic on canvas

    The Procession

    • 2024Bronze Medal, Surrealism and Symbolism, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  4. Apple by Jolanta Talaikiene, a row of watchful figures in black facing a single apple and a mouse, acrylic on canvas

    Apple

    • 2024Bronze Medal, Naive Art, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  5. Twenty Twenty Two by Jolanta Talaikiene, two figures with light-bulb heads, an owl and a night city, acrylic on canvas

    Twenty Twenty Two

    • 2023Best in Show, 35th Annual Skylands Regional Juried Art Exhibition, Newton, New Jersey
  6. The Riddle by Jolanta Talaikiene, a ruffed figure with fish, birds and a cat in a dreamlike sky, acrylic on canvas

    The Riddle

    • 2023Bronze Medal, Naive Art, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  7. Dulcineas by Jolanta Talaikiene, two women in red hats with an iguana among red roses, acrylic on canvas

    Dulcineas

    • 2023Honorable Mention, Figurative Art, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
    • 2023Choice of Art Garage Istanbul, Turkey
  8. Autumn Birds by Jolanta Talaikiene, four pale figures in tall bronze hoods with a single red rose, acrylic on canvas

    Autumn Birds

    • 2023Honorable Mention, Choice of Arabella Magazine, Canada, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  9. Ode to the Egg by Jolanta Talaikiene, a woman with a hen, a chick and a floating fried egg, acrylic on canvas

    Ode to the Egg

    • 2022Gold Medal, Naive Art, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  10. The Lamb and the Seven-Sealed Book by Jolanta Talaikiene, a crowned child holding a sealed book beside a white lamb, acrylic on canvas

    The Lamb and the Seven-Sealed Book

    • 2021Honorable Mention, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  11. The Dragonfly by Jolanta Talaikiene, a mermaid figure under a glass dome with dragonflies, acrylic on canvas

    The Dragonfly

    • 2020Bronze Medal, Surrealism and Symbolism, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
  12. The Dream Catcher by Jolanta Talaikiene, symbolist painting, acrylic on canvas

    The Dream Catcher

    • 2017Gold Medal, Surrealism and Symbolism, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
    • 2017Gold Medal in All Categories, IGAPC, Mondial Art Academia
    • 2017Group exhibition, Agora Gallery, New York
  13. In Harmony by Jolanta Talaikiene, a red-haired woman in a peacock crown riding a donkey covered in roses, acrylic on canvas

    In Harmony

    • 2017Group exhibition, Agora Gallery, New York
  14. Amaryllis by Jolanta Talaikiene, a red amaryllis rising above a crowd of small faces, acrylic on canvas

    Amaryllis

    • 2017Group exhibition, Agora Gallery, New York

  15. Obsession

    • 2016Best in Show, 29th Annual Skylands Regional Juried Art Exhibition, Newton, New Jersey

  16. To the Light

    • 2015Honorable Mention, Members Exhibition, The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, New Jersey
Jolanta Talaikiene with her Mondial Art Academia medal beside her painting The Dragonfly

Private studio viewings in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey, near New York City.

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