As an artist who settled in Australia after the Second World War, Vincas Jomantas created a body of over 100 works that directly engaged with both the twentieth century movement towards abstraction and the modernist art environment of Melbourne.
He was a founding member of the Centre Five group that helped to nurture and advance appreciation in the community for the new forms of sculpture. At the same time his works articulated a personal symbolic sculptural language that acknowledged his European cultural heritage and in particular the mythology of his native Lithuania.
Recognised for his originality, innovation and the meticulous professionalism of his craftsmanship, Jomantas worked with a variety of traditional and contemporary materials, ranging from bronze to polyester resins; however, his preferred medium was wood. He eschewed the preference for welded sheet metal that was the metier of choice for the period, in favour of wood that gave him creative freedom to endow his sculptures with seductive surfaces and intricate designs.
Vincas Jomantas' oeuvre is a unique personal statement that was informed by contemporary international art while retaining a deeply personal iconography that has universal applicability.
