Audra Skuodas (1940-2019) was born in Kaunas, Lithuania and lived for six years in a displaced persons camp in Germany before coming to the U.S. in 1949. She became a US citizen in 1961 and earned a B.A. and M.A. at Northern Illinois University. Despite a lifetime of relative obscurity, Skuodas' work resonates with profound depth and a distinctive voice that challenges conventional boundaries of perception and form. Perpetually experimenting with materials, she explored beads, sequins, and vibrant fabrics, creating rigid and soft sculptures alongside quilts, books, and jewelry. Her paintings and drawings--initially aligned with Surrealism before transitioning to abstraction starting in the 1980s—are where she gained renown the most.
Skuodas taught and exhibited her work throughout her career, and was associated with institutions such as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and Oberlin College. She exhibited in Chicago with Richard Gray, and in New York with Moti Hassan, as well as at regional spaces in the Cleveland area. In 2010, she received the Cleveland Arts Prize Lifetime Achievement Award. Her oeuvre found greater attention only after her death when it was prominently featured in the 2022 Cleveland Triennial: Front. Over the past several years, museums such as the Allen Memorial Art Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art have begun acquiring and exhibiting Skuodas' work. A major museum is planning a retrospective exhibition with a publication.