By Ryan Waddoups
Barbora Žilinskaitė creates very “bodily” furniture—sculptural pieces seemingly made of plump, cartoonishly exaggerated human limbs that fit together like puzzle pieces. After feeling stifled by the confines of traditional design education, the Lithuania-born talent sought to imbue everyday objects with corporeal features that pique the imagination and spur the uncanny feeling that the objects we surround ourselves with may have a life of their own.
Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 27
Occupation: Designer and fantasizer.
Instagram: @barbora_zilinskaite
Hometown: Kaunas, Lithuania.
Studio location: Brussels.
Describe what you make: Very “bodily” furniture.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: I don’t compare my works. They are all my babies and they are all alive in a way so I couldn’t say which one is better or worse. They all have their personalities and I love them as they are.
Describe the problem your work solves: Boredom and human supremacy.
Describe the project you are working on now: I’m currently working on two new chairs. Normally, during the production process, I give working titles to my pieces (though they rarely end up as the final titles). I call one “Peace” and the other “Love” as they have heart shapes on the backrest. I guess that’s my response to the dark times we’re facing.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: My solo exhibition, which is opening at Friedman Benda Los Angeles gallery on Feb. 20. Hopefully, you have a chance to visit it and meet these buddies in furniture bodies. If you go, talk with them, cry with them, don’t be shy.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Earmuffs. I don’t like to hear the noise I make.
What you do when you’re not working: Strolling around and seeing bodies and faces everywhere.
Sources of creative envy: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Nina Simone. Lately I’m also in love with Baselitz sculptures, and the work of Alex da Corte. Huma Bhabha’s work is so good too. Also sometimes I envy the creativity nature has. I’d like to borrow that for a little while. Then I just simply wouldn’t give it back.
The distraction you want to eliminate: My fears. I think I have too many.
Concrete or marble? Sawdust.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Forget.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Light.
