Artist Emilija Škarnulytė often places her own body at the centre of her work, moving through environments and adopting hybrid, mythical forms to explore underwater worlds and spaces rarely seen. Shifting between human and non-human perspectives, she creates a way of looking that blurs the boundary between documentary and the imaginary.
In this film, we follow Škarnulytė as she swims through Arctic submarine bases and sacred river confluences in the Amazon, reflecting on the physical experience of being in the water. The film also looks at Telstar, a work made in Cornwall, where stone circles, megalithic sites and satellite communication come together. Moving between underwater landscapes, ancient mythologies and the traces of human history,  Škarnulytė invites us to reconsider how bodies, water and time are connected.
Emilija Škarnulytė’s exhibition is on view at Tate St Ives until 12 April 2026.
More information: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/emilija-skarnulyte
00:00 Ocean as archive
00:40 Measuring landscapes through the body
01:35 Cold War ruins and Arctic waters
02:58 Æqualia: rivers, currents and immersion
04:03 The mammalian dive reflex
04:28 Deep time and unseen worlds
05:20 Telstar: stone circles and cosmic signals
06:12 Moving image as sculpture
07:17 Rhythm, tides and return to water
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