Chair #5
Maple, 26″H x 12″W x 14″D

I recently took on the challenge of designing a chair for a child. The fun part is that the client donated them to benefit the Ross School in East Hampton NY. It was so much fun! I really enjoyed the challenge of designing the chairs and incorporating my asymmetrical style with the necessities of the intended audience. One of the first realizations was that the chair would need a wood seat. There was a yogurt incident in my own house that proved the point that children and upholstery is a dangerous combination! I find the all maple look of the chair sets up a nice neutral field that allows my detailing to pop.

Chair #5 is small but it expresses everything I understand about chairs. The form is what I would call “traditional” and is based on the classic wood chair. I choose to work within those confines and strive to find a way to express something more. The asymmetrical detailing that i apply to the components that make up the chair set the process in motion. Each movement is balanced by a complimentary movement on a different part of the chair. The conversation turns from chair and function to me and my desire to express spontaneous action in my work.

In the end, each chair records a different set of events. Each chair is unique. The story becomes more clear as the second chair is compared tot he first. The more i make the more it becomes clear that the chair is a system to me. That system is the platform for expressing something in the moment. This is not just my approach to chairs but to furniture as a whole.

Chair #5 on my website

I could not resist taking some shots with my boys once the chairs were up on the backdrop! Here are some of the highlights.

By Nico Yektai -
New York based designer/maker Nico Yektai opened the doors to his Hamptons studio in 1995 after completing the MFA program at the School For American Craft at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The rigorous technical training complimented his background in Art History, which he studied, at Hobart College in Geneva NY. Yektai has synthesized this background into a singular style that has gained him national attention. Visit nicoyektai.com for more information