Rasa (B 1965) & Juozas Saldaitis (1959-2011) Lithuanian, Abstract Ceramic Sculpture. A cup with a removable lid on top of a feminine face wearing earrings on top of an abstract curved shape. Signed "Saldaitis" on bottom edge. Label on bottom reads "Hand Sculpted." 

Size: 12 x 7 x 24 1/2 in.

#2575 . 

Rasa Saldaitis (nee Mazzei) was born in Vilnius, Lithuanian in 1965. Despite economic hardships in the Soviet Union she actively sought to go to art school, first studying to be an instructor in art at the Pedagogical Institute in Siauliai in 1984. In 1987 she met Juozas Saldaitis (1959-2011), a fellow artist who introduced her to sculpture, and they began to collaborate regularly. She married him in 1989, the same year she received her Masters. They moved to St. Petersburg to both attend the Vera Muchina Academy of Applied Arts (now known as the Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design), and she studied figural drawing and painting, spending much of her time at the Hermitage Museum. In 1991, after the Union had fallen, they opened an art studio called “Ugne,” which translates to “Goddess of Fire.” It was one of the first independent businesses in the city, and specialized in ceramics and oil paintings. In 1994 they moved with their two sons to Chicago, Illinois. Although they continued to work together, their styles began to diverge: Juozas began to focus on architectural and constructivist elements, mixing many materials in with his ceramics, while Rasa experimented with vases in untraditional shapes and began to shift more and more towards nautical themes and painting, primarily. Juozas would usually sculpt the forms, and Rasa would apply glazes and draw on them with colored slips of paper before firing. After their children had left home and Juozas passed away in 2011, Rasa moved to Gulfport, Florida, opening a studio in nearby Pinellas Park where she continues to make art and offer lessons to aspiring artists.