Designer: Cat Merrick

Collaborators: Shawn and Semaria


I wanted to avoid any association with wicker or resort furniture. The tibisiri looks like rope, and the kufa bends naturally into organic, curvilinear shapes, so I made a chair that looked like a single rope twisting in space. I hoped that by creating a strong reference to something outside of its traditional associations, I could deny preconceived ideas about what furniture made from these materials must look like. Hopefully, this will encourage other designers to explore the tremendous and relatively untapped creative potential of non-timber forest products.