Sunday, July 31, 2016

Be Chairful Where You Sit

This year several friends and I participated in a fundraiser for the Arlington Public Arts, "Be Chairful Where You Sit." This event was held in Arlington, Massachusetts, on July 22-24 in Whittemore Park, Arlington Center

     My friends Amy, Jen and Jonathan had participated before, but this was my first time!


     The idea is to find an old chair, even trash, and re-purpose it into a work of art. In past years there have been some great chairs. In fact my friends Steph and Amy won the 'People's Choice' in 2014 with their "Throne of Games" chair.

     
"Throne of Games"

     
After viewing all the entries over the years, I wanted to participate. 

The genesis of my idea was to create a feminist statement about women's work. In other words: "Have a seat. You work too hard." I thought about doing a collage of women's work, mainly from yesteryear. The inspiration for my theme was the cover of an IKEA pillow I had, with a photo of a woman from the late 1800's. I turned this pillow cover into a seat cushion. 

My Chair "A Woman's Work is Never Done."
I had fun creating my chair, and spent many 'zen' hours. I was dis- appointed, though, that my chair did not sell.   


After the exhibit two friends made the comment that 'sitting on her face'  would be awkward.


LOL!  I was so enthused about using her in the piece that I didn't even think of that, but I guess it's a good point! 

  
Jonathan with his 'Merritt Parkway' chair