THE VISUAL ANALYSIS OF AN INSIDE JOKE
solo exhibition at Trisolini Gallery, Athens, OH (March 31 - April 04 2025)
featured work: the multi-purpose stools, the accent chair, the broom chair/ottoman, the dining chairs
The Visual Analysis of an Inside Joke uses furniture design as a storytelling medium. I explore how personal narratives can be expressed through the design of handcrafted furniture, poetry, and the thoughtful use of materials.
The work is inspired by my interactions with people, places, and objects. The inside joke in the project isn’t a literal joke. it’s a metaphor for deeply personal, layered meanings embedded within the furniture pieces. Like an inside joke, each stanza and piece hold layers of meaning. This includes conversations with my mom, fleeting questions from a stranger at a convenience store, my curiosity, and silhouettes of furniture from my childhood home.
It embodies the narrative by distilling it into the language of form and with the selection and use of specific materials, including swamp ash, red oak, khaya, sapele, ofram, brass filigree bead, broomcorn, and coconut husk/fiber weave. Each with its own characteristics and relation to the narrative.