Derek Henderson - When looking at books it’s very upright but comfortable. It’s from F. Fallshaw & Sons Pty Ltd, 127 northern road, West Heidelburg 3081, VIC made in the 50’s i think, my wife bought it for me. I have had it for 3 years.
INTO MY ARMS
We live in a time when most of our industry sits united in confusion, yet subsequently consumed by a stream of superfluous imagery – albeit reimagined by contemporary technology.
When it came to commissioning content, we sought to identify that which is common, reflective of, and arbitrary to what is engulfing our world.
Into My Arms, Australian photographers take a seat.
LEFT: Hugh Stewart - I’m in this chair every day at present, photographing FaceTime portraits of people around the world. I start around 7 to catch people in the US then finish in the evening with people in the UK and Europe. I bought the chair in LA. When we moved back to Australia I was still bouncing back and forward between here and the US so had I an office there for a couple of years. The chair found its way back here in a container of stuff that I didn’t really need. It's all taped up with gaffer Tape and although I've not used it much until now in the current situation, I'm actually finding it very comfortable and I'm very pleased it didn’t go out in the last council chuck out, as I was considering. RIGHT: Hannah Scott-Stevenson - It’s lumpy but comforting. It’s European designed, I found it in a small but exclusive Swedish boutique called IKEA. How long have I had it ? Longer than you’d expect for a ‘piece’ from IKEA. The sofa’s best moment… The best is always yet to come. Sadly it’s just for the interim while our lovely old family sofa gets re-plumped and recovered.. I predict Freecycle is in its outlook. DM me if you’re interested ;)
Daniel Goode - It’s horrible, the most uncomfortable unstable chair I’ve had to deal with sitting on. I haven’t the faintest memory of where I acquired it from, but it has to have been the first piece of furniture I bought when I first moved out of home when I was 19, I’ve had it for 8 years. The sofa's best moment? Probably today when I went to take its portrait. And its worst? It must of been roughly 6 months ago, I had finally decided to replace it with something more "posturepedic" and I placed it in storage. Although it’s outlook is actually optimistic, I’ll hang onto this one in hopes of using it later in life, but can man and machine truly coexist?
Jesse Lizotte – I’ve had it about a year, I traded my sister a figaro link gold chain for it when she moved out and went back to LA. It feels like a catcher’s mitt, but velour. The sofa's best moment… Blessing it with my bare bottom after a hot shower, and its worst…It did live in the hallway / our landing for a minute so I'm sure it saw / heard a lot of action. It now sits in the corner of our living room. I don't have a TV but I like to sit on it kinda sideways, with my legs dangling off the armrest while reading.
Nicole Bentley - We look over pretty Careel Bay to Palm Beach from these chairs. We can watch the sunrise from them and see the full moon too. I’m in my safe and happy place when I’m in them, they’re not too soft and not too hard with the perfect back support and arm rests at just the right height. I’ve had these chairs for the births of all 3 of my babies. They make the perfect feeding chairs. I’ve spent many hours day and night feeding babies in these chairs. These moments are my most cherished in these chairs. My baby girl, Aven, was born in this pandemic so I’ve spent a huge part of this time with her in these chairs. I found these beauties at Vampt Vintage in Surry Hills. They were on hold for someone else when I asked after them. I was so desperate for them! The lady at the store said if the other buyer didn’t purchase them by COB that day that I could have them. It was a nervous wait, but the time came and they were mine!! I’ve had these babies for 10 years now. Last year they were desperate for a reupholster and the cost was going to be the same as their original purchase price. Ouch! I hunted for weeks to find something I liked as much, but kept thinking I’ve got the most perfect chairs already. The original chairs were olive velvet cord and I couldn’t bring myself to change the fabric so found an almost exact match and restored them to their former beauty. The worst moments for these old beauties would be when their buttons started coming off and my boys would pull the stuffing out of the holes. Our white Chinchilla also calls these chairs her favourite and covers them in her white fur. The kids have snacks in these chairs. I like my home to be lived in and not over protected. *Art by David Bromley (to the left) and Holly Sharpe (behind).
Jack Younger - This chair has been in the family for more than 50 years. It's my grandmothers, and now it's my mums, currently I'm completing my mandatory isolation at my parents’ home in rural Victoria. Not the most comfortable chair, but has good back and head support, with the addition of a footrest its more than adequate for a feature length film.
Jake Terrey - This feels like The Marinas Trench of deep couches. It came from Freedom Furniture, it was nestled in a quaint corner of the sexual wasteland that is the Supacentre and was purchase on 17.12.2018. The sofa's best moment…Before we brought it home, and it’s worst…every moment since. Do not buy a white couch.
Pierre Toussaint - Borge Mogensen paper cord dining chair (part of set). It feels comfortable. I got it from Angelucci in Melbourne 10 years ago, maybe 11. The chair's best moment..It’s currently being used as a barre for Ballet Zoom classes. We don’t have a set seating plan of sorts at our place but we always all seem to end up sitting in the same spots.. we have a spare seat (there’s 5 of us) and Louis likes to mix it up. I sit so my screen doesn’t get reflection from the windows which means I usually get the view pictured here.. with our son Ollie on my left. He sits at the head of the table.
Tim Ashton - This sofa functions more like a day bed, in fact it gets a lot of use as an actual bed, really. It’s very deep and the cushions are very giving. Some guests find it a little intimidating because it requires you to fully commit. Once you reach the back you're almost laying down. After weeks of hunting we found our beloved couch-bed at Coco Republic. Perhaps the sofas best moments are better kept as secrets within it's home. But for this audience let’s just say Sunday naps and wrestles with dad and the kids. I hope to never part with this rare beauty. One day it will be refurbished and given a new lease on life.
LEFT: Levon Baird - What it feels like…Smooth, soft leather. It was my girlfriends’ mothers - apparently she’s had it for 10+ years, we’ve had it for a few months now. It’s best moments are all the evenings curled up on it with the dog, my girlfriend knitting, watching movies. While I love the look of it, and have had some great nights on it, I don't particularly like the feeling of leather so we tend to layer blankets over the top of it on a regular day. RIGHT: Jo Duck - What it feels like... a cloud in a cage. I bought it on Facebook market place for too much money considering it’s kind of broken at the bottom and the two pieces aren’t joined together which means getting in and out of it is a delicate process. The sofa's best moment… when I upgraded the shitty pillow it came with to this big fluffy cloud pillow and made the pillow cover (had to get mum to do the zip). It also makes for a great cubby if you take the top off, cover it with a blanket and turn it upside down on top of two chairs. Unfortunately it’s also a magnet for bags and jackets.
Stefan Wellsmore - This is my Reading chair, It began as my partners Grandmothers reading chair. We were given it, 3 and half years ago, when we had our son, Beck. The idea being that it would be his reading chair, which it was, for a while, but now he's moved on to bikes, I have claimed it for my own. To be honest, it's not the most comfortable chair I have had. But there is something about the space it occupies, a little sunroom tacked on to the side of our house which definitely feels like an afterthought. The walls are thin and the windows rattle in the slightest breeze, it feels more outside than in. At night, light from the overly decorative lamp beside the chair, spills onto the ceiling bringing armies of flying insects and a hungry praying mantis. The ensuing war can get distracting. But its cozy, which makes it comfy, and it's become my favourite place to sit since Covid came to town.
