Viltė Fuller was born in Klaipeda in Lithuania in 1996 when the shadow of the Soviet Union still loomed large over the newly independent country. When her family relocated to Kent in England the influence of her early years in Eastern Europe remained, and remains today as a pervasive theme in her practice. She has previously drawn upon Eastern European folklore for her predominantly figurative paintings and has even referenced the particular green found throughout ex-Soviet municipal buildings (apparently so used because of a surplus of paint left after paintings tanks and other military vehicles).
In her most recent body of work, Fuller examines the intricate connections between technology, the human form, and the pervasive influence of workplace culture. This collection of works sheds light not only on the current fascination with corporate narratives in the media but also on the transformation of mundane settings into captivating and questionable showcases of modern existence.
Expressed through an aesthetic prism of 80’s and 90’s “body horror” era David Cronenberg films, and the work of writers such as JG Ballard and Brett Easton Ellis; her exploration is deeply rooted in Fuller’s own evolving relationship with the concept of work and productivity. As a full-time artist without a conventional routine imposed by an employer, there is an almost voyeuristic fascination with the restricted and regulated workday that is both maligned and celebrated by a wider urban society. More recently she had begun to recognise in herself a desire for routine and structure and found herself drawn to aspects of the corporate environment. In her new paintings, we begin to see repeated forms and motifs suggestive of keyboards or calculators, and a tonal pallet of office carpet grey, chromed steel blue, and safety glass green - all of which provide a homogenised backdrop for some of Fuller’s wilder and darker imaginings. The mundane hum of corporate familiarity lulling us into a false sense of security.
