2021 Clarence Prize
Winner of the 2021 Clarence Prize for Excellence in Furniture Design
The title of this work, Following years of steady decline, we are witnessing a period of unprecedented growth is tongue-in-cheek, but also hopeful. The past year of ravaging bushfires and COVID lockdowns was one of massive environmental destruction followed by signs of rebound, a reduction in worldwide pollution, and a renewed appreciation of nature as people everywhere headed outdoors.
In this work, a rescued chair has been reconfigured incorporating the original materials and salvaged parts from many other discarded chairs. I used traditional woodworking joinery, carving, and upholstery techniques including half laps, tenoning, dowelling, splicing, shaping, pattern-making, spring-tying, deep tufting, and topstitching to fabricate this climbing, swelling work that suggests the materials are not expendable or dead but are vital and rapidly regrowing.