As always, this event is free and open to everyone, and refreshments will be provided by Gaines Group Architects.
Series Name: In Blue and Bloom: Washes of Memory from Lithuania
Medium: Watercolor
Artist Statement: “In Blue and Bloom: Washes of Memory from Lithuania is a collection of watercolor paintings created in response to my study abroad experience in Lithuania. Through both monochromatic blue and full-color works, this exhibition explores the ways beauty and trauma coexist within the country’s landscapes, architecture, and cultural memory.
During my time in Lithuania, I encountered a place of remarkable natural beauty, vibrant cities, and enduring traditions. At the same time, I learned about the country’s complex history of occupation, resistance, genocide, and survival. These experiences changed how I understood the places I visited. Streets, forests, and historic sites became layered with both visible beauty and the memories they continue to hold.
The use of monochromatic blue and full color is not intended to separate trauma from beauty. Instead, both bodies of work contain aspects of each. Some blue paintings focus on atmosphere, reflection, and form, while some full-color works depict locations shaped by painful histories. Together, these two approaches demonstrate that Lithuania’s identity cannot be divided into distinct parts. Its beauty and its trauma are deeply interconnected, each informing the way the other is experienced and understood.
Watercolor serves as an ideal medium for this exploration because of its transparency and fluidity. Layers of pigment and water mirror the way memory accumulates over time—sometimes vivid, sometimes softened, but never entirely erased.
These paintings are both personal reflections and acts of witness. They honor Lithuania as a place where resilience emerges alongside
remembrance, and where history continues to shape the present. Through this work, I hope viewers are invited to consider how landscapes carry stories and how art can help us hold complexity, preserving both pain and beauty within the same frame.”
Artist Bio: Cassidy Walker is a multidisciplinary artist working in watercolor, photography, ceramics, and digital media. She graduated from Eastern Mennonite University in 2025 with a degree in Art, Photography, and Digital Media & Communications.
Her work is deeply informed by close observation of the world around her. Through a variety of media, Cassidy examines places, experiences, and histories, translating them into visual forms that help her process and express what she encounters. Much of her artistic practice centers on themes of trauma, memory, resilience, and the ongoing effort to better understand the complexities of the world.
In Blue and Bloom: Washes of Memory from Lithuania was inspired by Cassidy’s study abroad experience in Lithuania, where she explored the relationship between natural beauty, cultural identity, and historical trauma. Through this body of watercolor paintings, she reflects on how places can hold both visible and invisible histories and how art can serve as a means of witnessing, remembrance, and connection.
