Before Easter, at the “Romuva” Cinema Centre in Kaunas, the people of Kaunas could see an unconventional exhibition – stereograms on the theme of “The Little Prince” created by Loreta Roževičiūtė-Elksnė and her team “Vėjo rožė”. At the moment, the works are traveling to France, and we are talking about how three-dimensional optical art appeared in the life of a 42-year-old woman from Kaunas and what discoveries this interesting activity brought her.
– I’ll admit, I tried to look at the stereograms more than once, but I never managed to see the secret hidden there. Maybe I lacked patience or knowledge? Maybe it is impossible for short-sighted people to see it at all?
– Stereograms can be seen by almost everyone. It is true that there is a very small percentage of people who, due to certain eye diseases, cannot see what is shown in them. Problems also arise for those who can only see with one eye. For everyone else, the backstage of the picture opens up. Only, of course, for some it is faster, for others it takes more time. Another important factor is that a person must know how to properly look at them.
– Then we are waiting for detailed instructions…
– Bring the picture closer to your eyes. Don’t run your eyes over the whole stereo picture, try not to blink, and then wait for the moment when the image blurs and you can no longer see it clearly. Slowly pull the illustration away from you. The main thing is that the eyes do not keep a focused image on the drawing, but through it, as if looking into the distance, as we do when looking through a window. As you move the image away from you, some of its elements will begin to move closer, while others will move away. Eventually, you’ll start to see blurry spots. When the three-dimensional image appears, you can already look around the entire stereo image, and it will not disappear. You will quickly get used to seeing it even from a few meters away.
– You are a graphic designer. How did the idea of creating stereograms come about? Maybe you visited an optical art museum and got inspired to create something similar?
– I have been friends with stereograms for a long time – 27 years. I just once went to a stereogram exhibition in Kaunas with my parents, after which, one could say, I got stereogram disease. For a long time, creating 3D art was a hobby for me alongside all my other work. Then the hobby gradually gained momentum, and when I realized that it also affects the health of people’s eyes, I took up stereograms with redoubled enthusiasm and vigour.
In order to create a large base of works, I deliberately did not rush to go public. I would quietly create for people and they would come back and recommend it to others. Later there was an incentive to do educational work. I wanted as many people as possible to learn about their positive effect on a person’s emotional state and physical health. We were also found by doctors – ophthalmologists from the “Mūsų akys” optician. Together with them, we created sets of eye exercises, and they also use our paintings in their work.
– Indeed, looking at the stereograms makes us feel as if we are in a mystical space, and when the secret is finally revealed, we experience a strong joy. How does it affect the eye?
– According to doctors, stereograms effectively strengthen eye muscles and help them relax. This is a great way to reduce eye strain, especially for those who work a lot on the computer. In global practice, they are used as art therapy and eye exercise to reduce eye fatigue.
– After you started creating stereograms, you started gathering a group of professional like-minded people around you, which you called the beautiful name of “Vėjo rožė”. Is your husband Vaidas among these people?
– Yes, but he is not a creator. My husband is in charge of finances and administrative affairs. Currently, our team consists of seven people. Four work actively, others join only when needed. What do we do? We provide education for children, adults and seniors. With two exhibitions of three-dimensional paintings, we travel not only throughout Lithuania, but also abroad. At the moment, we have created two exhibitions of large three-dimensional paintings – “True things are not seen by the eyes” (based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s work “The Little Prince”) and “Garden of Paradise”.
In 2019, the theme of the stereogram “The Little Prince” began its journey in Kaunas Town Hall Square, near the Christmas tree, and now it travels around other Lithuanian cities and beyond. If you will be in Florence during the summer, we invite you to visit the Museum of Illusions (“Museo delle illusioni Firenze”), where you will also see the stereogram created by us.
– You mentioned that you create postcards with stereograms. Can I order a custom stereogram? Let’s say I want to send a picture with a hidden message to a friend for her birthday.
– Of course, we do it often. We create stereograms for birthdays, baptisms, weddings. After all, it is very fun to receive a secret as a gift, which a person must discover according to certain rules. Stereograms are often requested by interior designers. Then one-of-a-kind or limited-edition works are printed on canvas, which are hung in the interior as paintings. Such a work of art does its silent work – it exercises the eyes without feeling it.
– A stereogram drawing consists of many small patterns and ornaments that are repeated and have similar colours. Are they drawn by hand or by computer? How is a stereogram born?
– First of all, there must be an idea and a concept. It is to predict what the mystery will be, what the viewer will see inside the picture. If it is an interior detail, we delve into the personal needs of the person. Maybe he wants the stereogram to replicate the wallpaper pattern? Maybe you want us to redraw only some home decor elements?
The pattern for the stereogram is drawn by hand and then transferred to the computer. That work is done by me or my assistants. I am working with my sculptor on an object that I will hide. Only then do I start a very careful pushing of all the parts of the drawing, from which the final drawing finally emerges. There are many techniques for creating stereograms, but my favourite is hand drawing. This is what distinguishes “Vėjo rožė” from other stereogram creators who work using computer patterns. I have my own technological sequence for creating stereograms that I always follow.
– Isn’t this work tiring for the eyes?
– I work 4-5 hours every day. I do my work looking at the computer with the so-called distant gaze. I don’t feel tension in my eyes. Perhaps the uniqueness of this work is that the eyes do not get tired at all.
At first, I created stereograms after all the day’s work at the computer. Eventually, I noticed that instead of being tired, my eyes rested and recovered. Looking into the distance relaxes them, as if they are out of focus. When we look at screens or books, our eyes strain. That is why doctors recommend to those who want to relax their eyes to look more into the distance, to the horizon, to spend longer in nature. You can also put a three-dimensional picture next to the computer so that you can direct your gaze to it when your eyes are tired.
– When the eyes are tired, we look at the stereo picture, and then we can go back to working on the computer?
– Yes, only you need to stay longer in that 3D picture. Take your time. Indoors, our eyes do not have the opportunity to rest well, that’s why looking out the window into the distance or at a stereogram is suitable. In both cases, you will achieve the same effect.
I was deeply touched by an event in the family. It all started with my grandmother. In her 90s, she could see everything perfectly even without glasses, but she had this moving spot on her eye. Once upon a time, I gave her some stereograms, grandma hung them on the wall next to the TV and looked at them from time to time.
– Has the cataract disappeared?
– I learned this indirectly: my grandmother bragged to her relatives, and I also heard this news from them. From that moment on, I realized that I had to put all my other work aside and focus only on stereograms. I started looking for even more information. I found a post about a clinic in Sydney for poor people. Her doctors applied stereograms to exercise instead of surgery, although we viewed them more as art.
– For what reasons do people approach you? Do they prefer stereograms as art (it’s a very niche art field after all) or as preventative eye treatments?
– Various. Depends on everyone’s needs. Of course, from the knowledge of what those stereograms are. It is very good for me when a person comes who is looking for professional art and wants a large format, then my creative spaces expand considerably (smiles).
– How long does it take to create one 3D picture?
– Things happen. Sometimes three people can sit on one painting for three months. I have made a catalog where the stereograms are organized by subject. They are very diverse. Prices? From a few euros (for a postcard) to several thousand euros for a painting.
– Seven of your paintings on the theme of “The Little Prince” were recently exhibited at the “Romuva” Cinema Centre. The artworks are currently on their way to France. Do you give a key along with the stereograms, that is, a clue to the mystery?
– Sometimes we write what specific objects a person should see in a stereogram. In the exhibition on the theme of “The Little Prince” you can find a prince, a fox and a sheep. However, there is no prompter for them. It is quite another thing if a person wants to purchase a limited-edition work. Then we write him a certificate of authenticity, in which we indicate what is shown in the picture, both in the upper part and in the hidden part of it.
– What are you currently creating?
– I am currently focused on the work of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. I started creating a stereogram before I even saw the famous virtual reality movie “Angelų takais”. It will be a 2.5 m high and 1.5 m wide stereogram according to the drawings of M. K. Čiurlionis, and inside, if you look carefully, you will be able to see a child with a flower. The stereogram will travel to the National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum in Kaunas. We are working hard because we want to finish before the Museum Days in mid-May.
Another work that is very important to me is the portrait of Jesus Christ based on the Turin Shroud. We have a challenge to hide the face of Jesus in the stereogram. This is not an easy project because the outer pattern cannot compete with the inner one. It doesn’t always work the first time. Since I’m a perfectionist, I always put in a little extra time so that once the stereogram is done, there is still time to improve it.
– If a mistake accidentally gets in? Do you need to disassemble the entire knitting?
– We need to find that place. Since I create the stereogram by hand, the whole technique is actually very similar to knitting. Sometimes you have to unravel half the knitting if you make a mistake. Fortunately, I’m already used to it, so such mistakes rarely happen. On the other hand, you can’t sit down to this creation restlessly, having settled down. If I’m creating, I need to be in a calm, stable state. After all, these works then go to people who feel perfectly what I put into them.
– As I understand, your stereo images are gradually increasing. From postcards to interior decor, and now you have ambitious plans to transfer them to the walls of buildings?
– Such projects are also ready, but we need time to implement them.
– How do you rest after such big, painstaking work, grandiose projects?
– Creativity is both our work and recreation. Stereogram, above all, gives people a good emotion, so our job is to provide it to everyone as often as possible. After the exhibitions, I get nice feedback. Grown-ups thank us that they got into childhood, they had to solve the mystery. At such moments, when people not only come to the exhibition themselves, but also bring their friends and relatives the second time, you realize that you are on the right path.
– Maybe you are creating something else besides stereograms? After all, you are an artist…
– I am still getting used to the name of the artist (smiles), although I have been learning to draw from the teacher since childhood. I’m interested in the business world, but others find the romanticized image of an artist hard to match with the traits of an entrepreneur.
I grew up in a small business environment, I always thought about how and where my creativity would expand further, especially since this field of art is still little known in Lithuania. I really took a risk, investing all my time and a significant part of the family’s finances in this activity, which is still very unknown to many. But I can say “Will!” Great faith in what I do and total dedication to my work is finally starting to bear fruit.
I do many things in life: I am interested in psychology, breathing exercises, meditation. I share how to manage stress for people and families in crisis. These things come from the family, very natural. I am especially grateful to my mother for instilling values and strength, faith, and hope, because I have been in poor health since childhood and had to experience many trials. My husband and I met at a self-education camp. Therefore, it is natural that my work is closely related to these things.
We love nature and travel. We visit a lot of museums when we travel – this is directly related to the activities of stereograms. We are also interested in other artists and ways of artistic expression. Can you believe that a stereogram can end up on a garment? Only, in order to see the secret, it is necessary that the person does not move.
– How to see the real image of the stereogram?
– Without moving your eyes or blinking, look through the drawing into the distance, as if you were looking through a window, as if it did not exist. Wait for the image to focus, then back away very slowly without losing your gaze. Soon, some parts of the drawing will start to move away, others will start to come closer. The image will become like glass. A specific three-dimensional object will emerge from the depths.
– Looking at stereograms makes you feel as if you are in a mystical space, which brings great joy to many people. Also, stereograms effectively strengthen the eye muscles and relax them. This is a great way to rest tired eyes, especially for those who work on the computer.
Source: daily „Kauno diena“, 2023 April 22, No. 78 (22928), prepared by Rasa Rožinskienė, Kauno diena – Stereogramos: nišinis menas ar akių sveikatos testas?