We choose chairs for their aesthetics, construction, ergonomics. The function of chairs matter, but sitting is never just about sitting.

A single, empty chair in a welcoming place beckons, seduces you to get off your feet, to sit, sink, pause and look inward and outward and feel the wonder of not moving and taking a moment just to be. 

Conversely, if that same chair, sat alone or faced a wall, it could shame, isolate and refuse comfort for the sitter. A chair on its side telegraphs upheaval, chaos, even crime.

In pairs, chairs spawn interaction and anticipation. Side-by-side, face-to-face, back-to-back empty chairs in twos are for friends, lovers or people alone who wait and wonder when or if the empty seat will ever be taken. 

Three chairs in a row are a classroom. Around a table, those same chairs are a meeting or a meal. Chairs are situational entities, configure them with other chairs or objects and they call people to connect, communicate, confront — talk to the chair — or pray.

Chairs are central to how we conduct our lives. Every chair tells a story. Everyone has a chair story to tell.

In addition to creating art about chairs, I have put together a talk, ​“Where Do You Sit In Life?” that explores chairs as history, power and identity.