Zep Tepi refers to the primordial time in Ancient Egyptian mythology. It is the time of the gods, where linear existence bends into a cyclical, eternal existence of everything simultaneously. Imagine the Biblical Book of Genesis or the Big Bang describing not an ancient event but an ongoing mechanism of reality's emergence.
The solo exhibition by Kristina Asinus, presented in the T.2 gallery in the Žemieji Paneriai district of Vilnius, represents an entry into the artist's vast archives of knowledge. In the "Zep Tepi" exhibition, Asinus explores the all-pervasive eternal first time, contemplating transcendence and immersion into the plane of collective existence arising from this timeless state.

The industrial urban zone of Paneriai acts like a cell membrane, accepting and producing substances for the cell. Today, production and the expanding residential area assimilate signs of the last century. National memory intertwines with a foreign past, slowly removing or consuming invasive foreign bodies. Plants gradually take over inactive factories. Urban structures must succumb to the endless force of natural laws and revert to a primordial state.

Kristina Asinus's figurative artwork reflects her engagement with the profound dimensions of reality and hidden memories within cultures and traditions. Her artworks convey attention to these deeper layers of reality and ancient traditions. The artist's visual symbols serve as archetypal keys in contemporary form, found in the deeper layers of human psychology. These symbols can be identified in the iconography of ancient Egypt and other ancient traditions. Ancient cities, unexplored by archaeologists, lie beneath the roots of the Amazon jungle.

Asinus, with her distinctive painting technique, depicts the green lushness of reality emerging from the eternal ocean of consciousness, the source of everything, marked by the blue color of the first layer. Her almost relief-like paintings preserve information and stories like the engravings of ancient civilizations. By depicting the greenery of the Amazon jungle and the tattooed figures surrounding it, the artist references the collective consciousness expressions of the planet's 9 billion inhabitants. Shiny red crystals and white Lemurian quartz speak of the planet's richness in geological materials and infinite wisdom, forgotten and hidden beneath layers of everyday life and socio-cultural constructs.

In the eternity of Zep Tepi, time stops. Here, an ancient Lithuanian, a king of South American civilization, a worker from the Vilnius meat factory, a chocolate factory owner, a modern company employee, and a person driving a “Toyota Corolla” through the membrane of Vilnius to vacation by the sea all meet. They pass long lines of trucks bringing goods into the city. Beyond the mind governed by linear time lies eternity, the primordial ocean, the memory of the forgotten Philosopher's Stone. Existing paradigms change, but human nature remains the same in reality and Kristina Asinus's paintings.

Kristina Asinus has held seven solo exhibitions in Lithuania, participates in group exhibitions and projects, and is a member of the “SinThesis Gang” artist group and LATGA. She graduated with a degree in graphics from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2018 and has been a member of the Lithuanian Artists' Association since 2020. Her works are in private collections in Lithuania, the USA, the UK, Switzerland, Estonia, Germany, and elsewhere.

Curator: Rūta Matulevičiūtė
Sponsor: Vilnius City Municipality

The exhibition is open until 28 June on Thursdays 5-8PM