The second version of this object was born out of dissatisfaction with the first and a desire for it to be perceived as maximally “real”, as something opposite to a prop: the insides of the object are as important as the outside. Reflections on the importance of the inwards were inspired by the exaltation of the internals at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, which was strongly influenced by the emergence of anatomy as a scientific practice. The guts and individual organs were expressed as a leitmotif in literature, visual arts, liturgical texts, and so on. During this period, the internals of the body, inseparable from the spiritual dimension, hid important truths, virtues and sins, where only God had direct access, and were transformed into a metaphor for the human’s acquired knowledge. Thanks to anatomical sciences, unknown knowledge, the mysterious interior of the body, has become accessible to the human eye. This reflects a conflict in the world-view of the time: an attempt to accept that the body, which until then was hidden under a veil of mystery, had become unmasked, objectified.

In her creative practice, Marija Puipaitė investigates bodily feelings in design objects. She explores a sensual and ambiguous connection with the material environment that surrounds us. In this work, she experiments with shape and texture: she sculpts a form which she then upholsters with velvet, a material with strong historical and sensuous connotations. Marija is interested in worn-out objects, places and surfaces as embodiments and signs of touch, of the lived, used and loved; surfaces and places that gather traces of a human being. Typologically, this work is a hybrid piece, at once a seat, a toy, a garment.

Marija uses the human body as a starting point for her designs. Whether furniture or jewelry, it always possesses an intimate, organic connection with its user, aiming to give a sensual experience. Marija sees the design process more like a ritual where all given factors and coincidences affect the result.

Marija Puipaitė (1987) is a Lithuanian designer living and working in Vilnius. She received a product design BA from Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2010 and completed her MA degree in the Contextual Design department at Design Academy Eindhoven in 2014. In 2024, she completed her PhD project at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, focusing on historical perceptions of the body and the agency of objects to evoke desire. Marija is currently mentoring at Vilnius Academy of Arts Design Department, working as a product designer, curating design exhibitions, and blending creative practice with Vytautas Gečas. Vartai gallery represents their works.