SENTIENT X Hernán Rivera Luque

Collaboration with Hernán Rivera Luque transforms the Sapience chair into a sculptural canvas, merging furniture design with Luque’s collage art using material from found advertisement posters.

SENTIENT X Hernán Rivera Luque

A Canvas for Exploration

The raw, sculptural form of the Sapience chair becomes a platform for Hernán Rivera Luque’s visual language. Hernán’s recent exploration with wooden panels made the chair a natural extension of his artistic practice, and his collage approach to using found advertisement materials lends the piece an intriguing complexity. The folds and creases of the chair both reveal and obscure the vinyl collage elements, inviting the viewer to engage in a perceptual dance—catching glimpses of recognizable textures like skin or fabric, while overall remaining within an abstract realm. This collaboration exemplifies SENTIENT’s belief that great design should provoke thought and inspire exploration, turning a functional object into a story yet to be fully told.

Artist Statement

“I chose the raw wooden Sapience chair initially, and simply, because of the similarity with the wooden board panels I have recently been working with. I was immediately drawn to it because of this. One of the interesting aspects of this chair is its sculptural quality. With its creases and folds, it reveals and simultaneously hides the added collaged content, creating complexity of the surface. The vinyl elements are mined from advertisement posters, and the resulting cut-outs are mostly devoid of any recognizable content. However, on occasion, a few do jump out at you—your eye can just make out what might be part of a chain, or skin, or some kind of fabric. In this way, your eye is, in a sense, tricking you—as if you are looking at a crack in the surface, one that allows you to only see part of the whole. It is like an unfinished story, giving the viewers an unsolved and open-ended experience.”

Showcased at Prestigious Art & Furniture Shows in New York City