On Thursday, 9 October 2025, at 5.30 pm, the exhibition SOFT SOLIDS / KIETI MINKŠTUMAI / KIETI MINKŠTUMAI by Ieva Baranauskaitė and Rūta Palionytė will open at the art gallery JUSIONIS (in the fashion and business centre Herkaus galerija, Herkaus Mantas str. 22).
Wax is the familiar material that has carried candlelight for centuries. It is also used in the pharmaceutical, food and textile industries. Today, as technology changes, wax is opening up new possibilities in design.
Architect and designer Ieva Baranauskaitė and designer and light artist Rūta Palionytė – the Lithuanian-Danish duo Daydreaming Objects – in their exclusive light object exhibition SOFT SOLIDS / LITTLE MINDS explore how everyday objects can be not only sustainable, but also emotionally impactful and closer to nature. The presented works are the result of research: wax becomes an innovative medium for light. The light objects are given thermal resistance, robustness, proper light diffusion and tactile distinctiveness. Each object is a dialogue between light and a specially prepared organic wax mixture.
Wax compounds have unique properties – they go from a shapeless mass to a tangible form and can return to a flexible, even trail-like shape. These compounds are moulded into biomorphic, sculptural light enclosures. During the day, the objects appear solid white, but the light reveals the unique organic origins of each element.
The exhibition responds to today’s need to push ecological boundaries using renewable resources. It invites you to look at how natural materials can be applied, opening up the possibilities of regeneration in design practice. The process of making the objects combines various methodologies: handmade, digital 3D modelling and creative upcycling. At the end of the process, the remaining wax is melted into candles.
“Stem is a wax sculpture resembling a totem or stem structure. It can be easily adapted to different spaces by changing the number of elements – modules can be taken out and reassembled. The light travelling through the wax compounds highlights their structure and symbolically depicts the growth and renewal processes of nature.
“Scoop’s light objects take you to the world of natural bodies and phenomena. Their wax volumes vary in texture and light colour depending on the plants used in the organic wax mixture and their proportions.
Creative recycling in “hard-soft” objects is used to incorporate components and elements of luminaires that no longer serve a function, designed in the 1960s and 1970s in countries such as Sweden, Italy or the former Czechoslovakia. The multi-layered combination of the new (volumes of organic mixtures) and the old (metal and glass components) takes on a narrative of nostalgia, looking to the future. It is a tribute of creative individualism to a former object, enabling the recognition of what it was and what it has become.
The objects in the exhibition open up a dialogue between resilience and fragility, functionality and sustainability. How would our consumption habits change if contemporary design shifted towards a “hard-soft” strategy?
Ieva Baranauskaitė is an architect and designer living between Lithuania and Denmark, who founded the studio i.B Archstudio. After graduating from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, she continued her studies in Denmark at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts, where she obtained a master’s degree in architecture. Ieva has gained professional experience working in well-known architecture offices in Japan, Denmark, Austria and Lithuania. She is currently developing her practice and collaborating with professionals in various fields. She works on architectural and design projects in Denmark and Lithuania and participates in international design exhibitions.
Rūta Palionytė is a lighting designer and light installation artist based in Denmark. With a Master of Arts degree in Creative Lighting from Edinburgh, she has been exhibiting her work in museums, galleries and events for over a decade. She has completed international projects in Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Poland, Italy, Scotland and elsewhere, and her practice regularly collaborates with artists from a variety of disciplines, exploring the interaction between light, materiality and space. “Daydreaming Objects is a creative studio founded by Ieva and Rūta. Combining different experiences, they create light objects that tell stories and create emotional experiences. “Daydreaming Objects is based on curiosity-driven research, unexpected use of materials and the search for sustainable design principles.
The exhibition will run until 6 November 2025.
The event may be photographed, filmed and publicised.
