Happy Sleepies

Handmade and embroidered one of a kind textile sculpture. Since 2001

Happy Sleepy, a stuffed toy made by Magda Wojtyra, posed with matching plants with pink dots on the leaves.
Happy Sleepies look like they have smiling eyes and upside down their eyes look sealed with sleep.

Whether happily proactive or sleepily withdrawn, they are avatars of our freedom to choose.

Happy Sleepy Silver Duck spins
Happy Sleepy Traveler series in the garden

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember those who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken... but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
– Victor Frankl

Happy Sleepy Madison spins

Happy Sleepies are enlightened beings because they always remember their freedom to choose how to be. They can zoom around in excited high energy or dream in restful slumber or choose to feel anything in between whenever they want. An example of an alternative to the happy-sad dichotomy.

Happy Sleepy Dido spins

Instead of bouncing between states of existence imposed by the outside world, everyone can generate from inside a choice of at least a proactive or reserved attitude towards external life circumstances. We can all learn to be internally, emotionally grounded and in that way always have a sense of agency in our lives.

Happy Sleepy Tumble and Surf
Original Happy Sleepy
The first Happy Sleepy made in 2005. Well, that's Sleepy on the left and Happy on the right, and really they are one. The pattern has been perfected over the years, and the myth has grown in depth and detail. See many more fabrics and styles on the Happy Sleepies page.
The first Happy Sleepy was made in 2005 based on a drawing by Marc Ngui.

The pattern has been perfected over the years to be ever curvier and bouncier and full of energy.

Happy Sleepy Bolt resting under a palm tree
Happy Sleepy Bolt resting under a palm tree on the beach in Bocas del Toro, Panama, 2014.

Making Happy Sleepies

Blue thread embroidery on silver linen
happy-sleepy-soft-art-embroidery-02
happy-sleepy-soft-art-embroidery-4-brown-wool

We make things according to rules of luxury and sustainability, shunning waste. For example, the fabrics we use are very high quality, often 100% silk brocade or wool and yet usually come from mill end rolls or from industry cut offs. The designs are sometimes the result of piecing together scraps from our own work - little is wasted and the result is unique.

Japanese textile handmade stuffed animal

Happy Sleepies in Exhibition

The soft sculptures have appeared in multiple Canadian and international exhibitions. They are included in all our larger installations as avatars of will and free choice
Happy Sleepy on exhibition in Japan
Happy Sleepy in exhibition at Shiro Oni Artist Residency, Onishi, Gunma Prefecture, Japan
The Reef textile art istallation with Happy Sleepies and Geoms at UpArt Contemporary Art Fair, Gladstone Hotel, 2011.
The Reef textile art istallation with Happy Sleepies and Geoms at UpArt Contemporary Art Fair, Gladstone Hotel, 2011.
Bravery Sculptures
Braveland installation by Magda Wojtyra and Marc Ngui. Cardboard, acrylic gouache, textile, wire, gold spray paint, fishing line, 120" x 72" 38"
Happy Sleepy sculptures
Happy Sleepy Fresh Paint and Happy Sleepy Stupa Head were part of the Ed Video booth in this international art fair in 2013.

Happy Sleepy Soft Sculpture Gallery

A small selection of the 100+ textile sculptures made since 2001.

Happy Sleepy Superpants
Happy Sleepy Superpants
Happy Sleepy Yellow Pants
Happy Sleepy Yellow Pants
Happy Sleepy Tumbledo
Happy Sleepy Tumbledo
Happy Sleepy Sparklepants
Happy Sleepy Sparklepants
Happy Sleepy Space Casual
Happy Sleepy Space Casual
Happy Sleepy Status Minder
Happy Sleepy Status Minder
Happy Sleepy Suave
Happy Sleepy Suave
Happy Sleepy Tangerine
Happy Sleepy Tangerine
Happy Sleepy Winterlake
Happy Sleepy Winterlake
Happy Sleepy Lakeview
Happy Sleepy Lakeview
Happy Sleepy Lovesplit
Happy Sleepy Lovesplit
Happy Sleepy Mister Ears
Happy Sleepy Mister Ears
Happy Sleepy Olive
Happy Sleepy Parallel
Happy Sleepy Parallel
Happy Sleepy 2010
Happy Sleepy 2010
Happy Sleepy 2011 with a big flower on the head
Happy Sleepy 2011
Happy Sleepy Carrot Eyes
Happy Sleepy Carrot Eyes
Happy Sleepy Clearing
Happy Sleepy Clearing
Happy Sleepy Red Garden
Happy Sleepy Red Garden
Happy Sleepy Peachy
Happy Sleepy Peachy
Happy Sleepy Love Scarred
Happy Sleepy Love Scarred
Happy Sleepy Green Toile
Happy Sleepy Green Toile
Happy Sleepy Cyan Tutu
Happy Sleepy Cyan Tutu
Happy Sleepy Bright Mind
Happy Sleepy Bright Mind
Happy Sleepy Blue Shirt
Happy Sleepy Blue Shirt
Happy Sleepy Bay Leaf
Happy Sleepy Bay Leaf
Happy Sleepy Deep Shadow
Happy Sleepy Deep Shadow

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