Couch Potato

My first thought, when I ran across this obese chair by design student Charlotte Kingsnorth, was that it resembled artist Jenny Saville's paintings. Sure enough, it was indeed inspired by a series of her paintings, where the flesh of obese figures consumes the stools on which they perch.

Personally, I'm captivated with Kingsnorth's use of material— the chair is upholstered in pink velvet and covered in latex sheeting, tufted in bulbous, irregular protrusions.   I've posted one of Saville's paintings just underneath, and you can really see how well the velvet/latex combo replicates the soft, mottled quality of Saville's paint. Viscerally disgusting? Yeah, definitely. But I'm intrigued. 

Above, At One by Charlotte Kingsnorth, 2009.

From a Dezeen article on the piece:

"At One is a sofa which has been devoured by its obese occupier,” says Kingsnorth. “It tells a story of a relationship between a person and their sofa and the evolution of their bond through time spent sitting together.

Above, detail of the latex-over-velvet upholstery

Above, Prop (1992) by Jenny Saville