Gabija Kunijauskaitė

Design - Off Road

Sink in

My name is Gabija Kunijauskaite. I am a Lithuanian illustrator, based in the Netherlands. My work focuses on visual storytelling and emotionally driven narratives. And this work specifically takes the form of a pull-tab book.
My book explores the theme of suffocating comfort, specifically the slow and often unnoticed realisation that something once familiar and safe can become restrictive and harmful. The story follows an overwhelmed girl who escapes an overstimulating social environment into a dreamlike world of complete comfort, only for it to gradually shift into something consuming and difficult to escape.
This work is loosely inspired by my own experiences with escapism and indecision, particularly the tendency to remain in familiar environments rather than confront uncertainty. The doors within the story represent different forms of choice — overwhelming, nostalgic, and unknown, while the character’s hesitation reflects the emotional weight that decision-making can carry.
I chose to present this project as a pull-tab book to reinforce the idea of illusionary control. While the viewer is able to physically interact with the pages, the outcome remains fixed, mirroring the illusion of agency within a comfort zone. The use of watercolour supports the narrative through soft textures and fluid transitions, which gradually become heavier and more unstable, visually reflecting the shift from comfort to suffocation.
Rather than offering a clear resolution, the story ends ambiguously. It is left unclear whether the character chooses to stay or leave. This is intended to encourage the viewer to reflect on their own relationship with comfort and avoidance, and to question whether staying in a familiar space can sometimes become limiting rather than protective.

Contact

E-mail

Instagram

Facebook