Medžio skulptorius Jonas Tvardauskas iš arti
ENContemporary folk artists develop and lively interpret the folk sculpture tradition. Unlike the issues of folklore traditions with an eminently opposite division between stylized folklore and “authentic tradition”, contemporary Lithuanian folk art is percepted as a more integral phenomenon with only similar tendencies emerging: some artists are only more familiar with folk art tradition, countryside culture attitude, ideas and aesthetics, while others are closer to the modern professional painting art and amateur art. Jonas Tvardauskas represents the conservative classical folk art trend. He was one of the most significant upholders of tradition in wood cutting as well as the creator of some innovative shapes of its expression. With creation of standards to the folk souvenir industry in the 2nd half of the 20th century, he also added to the formation of modern-type wood cutting aesthetics, grounded on a distinctive interpretation of traditions – with development of more contemporary images/symbols of it and styles, by original and new expression of the folk and peasant spirit. Later, he immersed into the world of true artistic creativity and with huge power of spirit started talking like an educated talent of folk and countryside culture – his style features a sensible and minute aesthetics of forms and an almost sacral accuracy of details and attributes, concreteness and also sleek literacy of images, narrative nature and illustration. The scope of issues covers national creativity of literature classics, folk culture realities, portraits of creators, Lithuanian history and folk Christianity, etc. Creators approach and views are an important component providing better understanding of his relations with cultural context and clearly defining methods of creativity and originality of world view as well as relationship with traditional folk culture.This article was dedicated to a more thorough analysis of answers to questions posed to the famous folk art wood cutter J. Tvardauskas, during a free-structure interview at Lithuanian History Institute ethnographic expedition in 2009 in Anykščiai. Interview language was left almost uncorrected in order to preserve the immediacy of spoken language, its vitality and opportunity to understand it as folk art text. Confessions collected during the interview are interesting and valuable in the folklore attitude as well as are samples of narrative autobiography research. Together with analysis of historical context, interview can help better reveal the peculiarities of the states cultural and ethnic culture development, serve in cultural history research. J. Tvardauskas recollections and stories of life and creative work can be interpreted as autobiographical, folklore, deeply subjective attitude towards the surrounding phenomena of culture and individual spiritual world.
