Emilija Povilanskaitė (b.1997) is currently active as a visual artist and film director. Her work – rooted in storytelling – is multifaceted, connecting technology, science, research, scent creation, and coding. Through her immersive visual and olfactory installations and films, she explores the complexity of technology, fictional worlds, and their effect on human perception. Having graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts The Hague – ArtScience Interfaculty, Emilija’s multifaceted work speaks of humankind’s current lost connection between the body and the outer world. Underpinned by a strong interest in myth-making and folklore, unexplained phenomena, and forgotten traditional rituals, the artist offers sensory paths that, through fiction and imagination, may allow us to reevaluate and reaffirm our place as sentient beings amidst the current socio-cultural conjuncture, which sees the cult of the image and the screen reign supreme. In a time when the Internet has reinforced the hegemony of the image, Emilija uses her approach to create olfactory and visual spaces that communicate on an imaginary, multi-sensorial, and tangible level, making us the more aware of the (real) world which surrounds us, as well as the varying relationships we may entertain with it (whether in states of perceived danger, fear, or even hallucination).

Helium flash
2024

The star ignites helium in its core, and does so in a thermonuclear runaway, called the Helium Flash.

Chromated stainless steel, glass, helium