The South African designer Porky Hefer presents his new solo exhibition Heart of Lightness at the R & Company gallery in New York. The exhibition includes seven new sculptural seats of the designer, each piece is handmade and draws from traditional South African craft materials and processes.
The title of the exhibition tackles the troubling connotations and perceptions addressed by Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. Hefer conceptualizes his work instinctively rather than adhering to a set of learned design practices. His belief that humanity has become severely removed from its natural instincts and passive to what motivates it on a survival level, prompts him to invite his audience to engage with the exhibition instinctively. Hefer says that each piece is meant to be inhabited like a hermit inhabits shells. He encourages visitors to curl their bodies into the playful, human-scaled shells and nests, or to drape themselves languidly over the leopard’s branch.
Zesty Meyers, co-founder of R & Company: “Porky creates immersive environments that allow people to escape into a different world. They’re beautifully made and seemingly weightless objects that make people thinking about installation, performance and design in a new way.”
Heart of Lightness also challenges us to question what makes us human and what connects us to the animal kingdom. By experiencing the feeling of being with a shell, or a nest, Hefer hopes to urge us to interrogate why we are so removed from our natural environment.
Shell seating sculpture in speckled Nguni cow hide. Designed and made by Porky Hefer, South Africa, 2016.
Dimensions: 90.55 in (L) x 51.18 in (W) x 48.03 in (H) / 230 cm (L) x 130 cm (W) x 122 cm (H)
Bwa Leaf Mask sculptural hanging seat in woven leather and Kubu rattan. Designed and made by Porky Hefer, South Africa, 2016.
Dimensions: 55.12 in (L) x 45.28 in (W) x 51.18 in (H) / 140 cm (L) x 115 cm (W) x 130 cm (H)
James Brown seating sculpture in woven leather, steel and sheepskin. Designed and made by Porky Hefer, South Africa, 2016.
Dimesions: 118.11 in (L) x 46.46 in (W) x 51.18 in (H) / 300 cm (L) x 118 cm (W) x 130 cm (H)
Wasp Nest sculptural hanging seat in woven leather, steel and sheepskin. Designed and made by Porky Hefer, South Africa, 2016.
Dimensions: 70.87 in (L) x 37.4 in (W) x 64.96 in (H) / 180 cm (L) x 95 cm (W) x 165 cm (H)
Mask sculptural hanging seat in woven Kubu rattan, steel and leather. Designed and made by Porky Hefer, South Africa, 2016.
Dimensions: 55.12 in (L) x 45.28 in (W) x 51.18 in (H) / 140 cm (L) x 115 cm (W) x 130 cm (H)
Caterpillar sculptural hanging seat in woven Kubu rattan, steel and leather. Designed and made by Porky Hefer, South Africa, 2016.
Dimensions: 78.74 in (L) x 45.28 in (W) x 51.18 in (H) / 200 cm (L) x 115 cm (W) x 130 cm (H)
Leopard’s Branch wall-mounted seating sculpture in woven Kubu rattan and leather. Designed and made by Porky Hefer, South Africa, 2016.
Dimensions: 70.87 in (L) x 43.31 in (W) x 51.18 in (H) / 180 cm (L) x 110 cm (W) x 130 cm (H)
LOCATION: R & Company Gallery 82 Franklin Street New York
DATES: January 17 – February 23 2017
PHOTOS: Joe Kramm / R & Company; Rudi Geyser / Southern Guild