Anatomy of a Chair exists at the intersection of craft, materiality and structure, elevating what is wild, weathered and forgotten into something finely crafted and considered. Beauty, memory and drama.
The piece is constructed entirely from reclaimed wooden chairs, salvaged from the Newcastle street roadsides, objects discarded and no longer considered valuable.
Discarded chairs are simply that.
They are however, each one, imbued with a personal history, a past life of function, design, meaning and memory. Once ubiquitous wooden furniture was in every Hunter home, lasting through generations.
Their dark-stained timber, reminiscent of English walnut, echoes a longing for 'home'. Inherited aesthetic speaks to colonial ties, to European roots and to a bygone domesticity that now feels contradictorily comforting and remote.
Every Hunter resident can relate to the instantly reconsiable forms, triggering feelings of nostalga, longing and loss. With over 30 years as a designer and fine furniture maker working predominantly with timber, this work marks an extension of my practice through an exploration of assemblage, sculptural form and surface treatment through patina, ink, dye, gouache, and ebonising techniques.