Helen Kontouris

Artist statement

I observe the everyday banalities; I find humour in the absurd and curiosity in the ordinary – yet people and their interaction with objects are what inform my work. My work has an underlying organic femininity in its form – a symbiosis of tactility, interaction, interpretation and visual connectiveness.

My agenda for the creation of 101 chair has always been about essentialism. I asked myself: 'What defines a chair?', and the answer came back simply as 'Once it is sat on'. My intent was then to create restrained yet expressive line-work, which I could almost capture and suspend in time. I approached this chair design as an opportunity to discover, learn, evolve, simplify, interpret and create, through a deliberate questioning and artistic intellection.

I believe ecology in design today rests on the role of the designer as cultural architect, creating products with a clear purpose and function that arrest you with their beauty and promote a movement against 'throwawayism'. You are emotionally attached enough not to discard it. When you no longer need it you can give it to someone whom you know admires it, or to a charity for those who need it.