Artist Statement

I’m a creative upholsterer, rescuing and rejuvenating old chairs. I sell the chairs and footstools that I have upholstered. I also take on commissions: so many people have a special chair, found or inherited, much loved but in need of tender loving care and an update.

I’m interested in chairs as functional sculptural objects and also in exploring what happens when you remove or play with function in old furniture: my weird footstools look great on the wall!

I often use upholsterer’s black and white webbing in my work: it is a strong, structural material, usually hidden away, doing all the support work; I like to put it in the spotlight as a decorative feature, creating bold stripes and exuberant ripples with it.

I also design patterns for fabric which I have printed digitally (this helps reduce fabric waste as the design and print are specific to the size of the chair). I like to create designs that allude to the chair as a support for and echo of the human body (a chair has arms, legs, a back, a seat …) At the moment I’m focusing on floral motifs: plants that have herbal or medical properties.

I’m also developing an art practice around old chair frames, investigating ideas such as emotional residue in inanimate objects, particularly chairs, the burdens of domesticity and the pressures, particularly on women, of creating and maintaining an ‘ideal home’.