Make Yourself into the Spectacle, Allow Yourself to Feel Small - Ellen Clay

During the opening week of Boundary Encounters, a group of young artists, aged 16-18, joined commissioned artist Harold Offeh for a week of collaborative design and creative experimentation in the gallery. The young artists were tasked with creating pieces of furniture for Harold Offeh’s Pavilion. Here, we speak to Ellen Clay about her cocooning chair.

Can you describe the inspiration behind your chair?

Initially I was inspired by flowers which open and close, revealing their beauty and flamboyance yet also hiding, sheltering and covering up at night. Reflecting this, my chair allows you to become the spectacle but also feel small, cocooned by petals of white woollen fabric resting against a cyclical structure.

When you sit in the chair, you are encouraged to wrap yourself in the layers of fabric, whether you cover your whole body or not, allow yourself to be comfortable, hidden and small. On the other hand, these petals become dramatic, even excessive when unfurled, the chair acting as some sort of throne.

Again, one of the other ideas I initially wanted to explore was the traditional depictions and notions of femininity. I aimed to recall these feminine shapes and forms when creating my chair, both in the petals of fabric and the wooden structure itself.

Using reclaimed/recycled materials truly allowed me to take my idea to directions I never would have considered. I found this white wool, cutting out huge panels which could be wrapped or splayed out, somewhat emulating classical statues in which marble is carved to appear as cloth.