Agnė Jokšė

Agnė Jokšė, Dear Friend, 2019. Single-channel video, 24 min. Selected by the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania

Dear Friend is a video by Lithuanian artist Agnė Jokšė. It is performed by Jokšė and is based on her letter-form text written in contemplation of friendship as platonic love between queer women. Balancing between reality and fiction, the work openly and sensitively speaks about various forms of love, affectionaffection, and care in the contemporary world.

Where are you from and how did you become interested in moving image work?

I grew up in Vilnius, Lithuania. My main practice is writing, however, as a reader I’ve always been more curious about the sense lived through the text, the unsaid or somehow by words and their agreed meanings—untellable. Moving image, as a medium, carries multidimensionality of elements that can contain layers and layers of information. It’s exciting, like finding a treasure—a box full of all kinds of tools to come closer and explore the space in between the lines.

What inspired/influenced you to make the work?

The passion for friends.

Agnė Jokšė (Lithuanian, b. 1993) is currently based in Copenhagen, studying for a master’s degree at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Media Arts. In 2017, Jokšė graduated from Vilnius Academy of Arts, Department of Monumental Painting and Stage Design. Since 2018, she actively participates in various art projects. Her work Dear Friend was produced by the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius and won the JCDecaux Award in 2019.