Suspended Sofas, Cocoons & Nests by Porky Hefer

Mask 1. Steel, kooboo cane and leather.

Caterpillar. Steel, kooboo cane, raffia and leather.

Bwa Leaf Mask. Steel, kooboo cane, felt and leather.

James Brown. Steel, leather and sheepskin.

If you ever felt there wasn’t enough variance when it comes to hanging chairs, you haven’t heard of Porky Hefer. If the name sounds unusual, wait till you see his art, or his chairs. At times it’s hard to decipher which is which. From the sublime to the ridiculous, his artwork cum hanging chairs are bound to offer a giggle sitting atop an open mouthed, sharped toothed alligator.

But it’s not just humour he offers. His sophisticated, organic nests and hanging sofas are aesthetically beautiful but also offer a sense of peace in our otherwise hectic over-manufactured world. All his works are handmade, shying as he does from the over produced industrial ways we currently produce furniture. His natural, woven pieces feel like a wood nymph has crafted together the most delightful and restive space to snuggle inside of and escape the world for a while.

Crocodylus Eugenie. Leather, sheepskin & steel.

Fiona Blackfish. Leather, sheepskin & steel.

Catherine Esca. Leather, sheepskin & steel.

Hefer spent 16 years in advertising, during which time he worked as a Creative Director in Cape Town and New York agencies, and became one of South Africa’s most awarded creatives. Realising that the higher he climbed, the less he personally created, in 2007 he left advertising to start up a creative consultancy, Animal Farm. Four years later he founded Porky Hefer Design.

Hefer focuses on conceptual precepts, which manifest in three dimensional forms in a variety of executions, from public sculpture to product and furniture design. Intrigued by the reactions and energy a piece can generate, he embraces Africa and the skills that are readily available indigenously, rather than trying to emulate foreign processes. Hefer sees beauty in the functional, the ordinary and discarded. He regularly challenges our relationships with everyday objects, inspiring us to look again. Brilliant!