Lindsay Mapes Transforms Vitra Eames Chair in Charity Project

Since 2008, Lindsay Mapes has been an artist residing in East London. For a charitable project by The Furniture Practice benefiting The Peel Charity, she undertook a radical reimagining of a Vitra Charles and Ray Eames chair. By disassembling the iconic piece, she wrapped, stitched, and layered it with textiles, transforming it into a tactile sculpture. Her artistic process, characterized by movement and an embrace of imperfection, often involves simultaneous work on multiple pieces in her Hackney Wick studio. Mapes has studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, the Studio Arts Centre International in Florence, and The Slade School of Fine Art, later participating in the Turps Off-Site programme. Influenced by artists like Ugo Rondinone and Georgia O'Keeffe, her experiences of motherhood have led her to explore portable materials and craft techniques, further enriching her visual expression. The Eames chair project exemplifies her philosophy of destruction and repair, questioning the boundaries between fine art and craft.