Gintautas Vaičys is a middle generation Lithuanian painter who has consistently focused on creating abstract art. His preference for abstract art evolved while he was a student studying under New York-based painter Kęstutis Zapkus. While his fellow students, including Patricija Jurkšaitytė, Ieva Martinaitytė Mediodia, Žilvinas Kempinas and Aidas Bareikis, viewed the course as an impulse to break out from traditional Lithuanian painting styles, for Vaičys the instructor's style had a much more direct and profound impact.