Happiness is a Butterfly Drawing

Ieva Aleksandrovič is a Lithuanian painter and a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where she studies at the Faculty of Painting. Her work is an ongoing conversation between nature and the subconscious, rooted in contrasts and guided by symmetry. Inspired by literature, film, and the delicate architecture of butterflies, she explores the fleeting nature of love and happiness — emotions that, like butterflies, resist capture. Through the layering of opposites and the study of metamorphosis, Ieva invites the viewer into a world where the impossible finds harmony on canvas. Aleksandrovič’s work often juxtaposes large, powerful animals — such as leopards or horses — with the delicate presence of butterflies. These contrasting elements become a metaphor for the human condition: the tension between our restless pursuit of happiness and the elusive, quiet nature of joy itself. The animals reflect the forceful, often aggressive ways in which people seek fulfillment, while the butterfly, small and ungraspable, symbolizes a kind of happiness that resists control. Executed with a meticulous sense of balance, each composition is anchored in symmetry — an aesthetic choice that underscores the internal conflict between chaos and calm, force and stillness. Drawing inspiration from childhood memories of playing cards and literary figures such as Dostoyevsky’s Foma in The Village of Stepanchikovo, Aleksandrovič explores the archetype of the joker — not as a fool, but as a figure of disarming truth. Historically, the joker or court jester held a unique position: permitted to speak freely in the presence of power, even to kings, without facing punishment. In doing so, the joker often revealed uncomfortable truths that others dared not voice. The sun, both a physical force and a mythological symbol, holds a recurring place in Aleksandrovič’s work. Revered across ancient cultures — from Helios in Greek mythology to Ra in Egyptian cosmology — it has long represented divine power, life, and truth. For the artist, the sun also becomes a metaphor for happiness: radiant yet distant, vital yet untouchable. Positioned at the center, it mirrors the structure of our own lives — around which everything orbits.