The puppet world of creator Erika Šuklinskienė from sketches to stories

The puppet world of creator Erika Šuklinskienė from sketches to stories
The well-known puppeteer Erika Šuklinskienė lives and works in Kaunas, Lithuania. She organizes personal puppet exhibitions and educations in Lithuania. Her artistic puppet works are published in international artist books in Argentina and France, as well as in the international German art magazine “Goddessartsmagazine”, as well as in the Lithuanian press.
In 1994 she graduated from Kaunas Eiguliai Secondary School. She received secondary education. In 2024 she graduated from the King Mindaugas Prof. Training Center. She received a social worker profession with honors. The artist is actively involved in the fields of theater and puppet education.
From 1987 to 1992 she attended the puppet theater “Nykštukas” and, as an author, learned the basics of acting, sewing theatrical costumes, glove puppets, and making masks. The directors of the puppet theater were Jūratė and Darius Armanavičiai. The artist’s first debuts as an actress took place in this theater.
From 1994 to 1999, while still in high school, the author recited poems, composed poems, and hosted events. At the age of fourteen, she founded the children’s drama group “Zuikutis,” which existed for five years. She was the only one who had a drama group of this type before. She often participated in school festivals. Together with the children, she created costumes and decorations, wrote scripts, and acted in performances herself. Since then, the author’s activities have been written about in the press. The author’s greatest activity and the most roles were created in the “Drakoniuko” theater.
Erika Šuklinskienė's glove puppets are talking glove puppets. The collection usually presents collections of puppet trees and beetles. These are talking puppets. They are intended for children and adults. In each collection of E. Šuklinskienė, the creation technique and aesthetics are of great importance.
Not only emotions are important in the author's work, but also interactions with art.
What makes the work of the artist-puppeteer Erika Šuklinskienė unique?The dolls of the artist Erika Šuklinskienė are unique and impressive in terms of art, they are characterized by different artistic constructions and forms, and bright colors dominate in each doll. Each doll is humanized, embodies a certain character and has a unique character. Each doll has its own creation story, each doll is unique, some dolls are even accompanied by fairy tales or scenarios created by the artist, which later turn into live performances. Each doll has its own voice and certain facial movements. Similar types of puppets or existing puppet glove mask characters can be found in other countries: Germany, England, Italy. The different roles of puppet masks are characterized by satire and grotesque.
Art critic Gabrielė Kuizinaitė