You’re standing at the spot where two rivers meet – the Malše and the Vltava. It’s not far from the centre of České Budějovice, but it feels like a place of rest. There’s a cycling path along the riverbank, and nearby benches and wooden loungers encourage people to sit, relax, and enjoy the view. The grassy slope here stays fresh and green, nourished by the close presence of the water.
Resting on this grass is a sculpture that, at first glance, looks like a sofa – a low, long seat for lying down or relaxing. But this is no ordinary piece of furniture. It’s a solid artwork, carved entirely from sandstone.
The sculpture measures about one and half meter in length, one metre wide, and around 50 centimetres tall. It sits low to the ground on four small, rounded legs. Its form is soft and rounded, shaped into gentle curves and shallow dips that might remind you of cushions or a reclining body.
This piece, titled Sofa – Woman, isn’t random in its form. The soft-looking contours are a stylised interpretation of the female figure. The representation of the female figure/body in this sculpture has no neck and no head on one side, and on the opposite end, there are no calves, and no feet.
The shapes suggest a reclining body, abstracted and symbolic. Smoothly finished, but crude in proportion and shape. Reminiscent of non-anatomical representations known from prehistoric art.
The lower section has two rounded, slightly bent forms that resemble legs or thighs. Between them is a shallow triangular dip, a symbolic suggestion of the pelvis.
In the centre, three smooth, horizontal ridges span the width of the sculpture. These gentle folds might evoke the softness of an abdomen or torso. At the top, the piece splits into two rounded forms with a subtle dip between them – a hint towards the shape of a chest.
The surface is made of natural sandstone, rough to the touch, with fine grains of sand and quartz. Its colour is warm – a soft, yellowish beige typical of weathered stone. Although this is not a realistic representation of the human body, it must be admitted that it is a fairly realistic representation of the structure of the couch in concrete.
There’s a story behind this sculpture. Before carving this lasting outdoor version, Rejent created a usable sofa from soft foam – a fully functional, springy piece of furniture. The stone version came later, offering a striking contrast: the form remains soft and familiar, but the material is heavy, firm, and enduring. The piece weighs about one tonne.
The sculpture is a playful but thoughtful tension between softness and strength, between everyday function and artistic form.
And here is how the artist himself describes the work:
“‘Sofa’ is a sandstone sculpture based on the familiar shape of furniture meant for sitting or lying down. The cushions on this sofa are shaped according to the female body, with an intentional sense of stylisation and simplification, and with an ambition to express some of the qualities for which female bodies are admired. Perception and judgement of the human body are highly individual. This piece is my own view, with a degree of exaggeration and a light approach to the subject. But the lightness is only symbolic – the material, by contrast, is heavy and enduring. While the original foam version was soft and flexible, sandstone is a stone whose structure formed over millions of years. A contrast emerges between appearance and substance, between form and material.”
The artist uses sandstone, a material characteristic of sculptural works placed in the Czech landscape for centuries. Through meticulous hand-carving, the Couch aligns with the tradition of classical sculpture, while simultaneously introducing a strong formal and symbolic exaggeration. It is precisely this balance—between the classical and familiar on one hand, and the slightly provocative and surprising on the other—that the artist aims to explore.
The artist is Marek Rejent, whose work often lies at the intersection of sculpture, design, and playful commentary. He frequently explores how people relate to everyday objects, the home, and the human body.