Head Hi / Take a Seat

Take a Seat is an exhibition of furniture and objects by emerging designer Brianna Nichole Love. Inspired by historic hair combs from cultures across Africa, each chair is distinct in design but is connected to the rest of the collection through the repetition of shape and motifs, creating a collection of cousins instead of twins or siblings. The chairs shown draw inspiration primarily from combs made by the Benin and Ashanti people of Nigeria and Ghana; and the care cultivated in designing something so ornate for the maintenance of oneself.

The designer, originally from San Antonio TX and based in NYC, was inspired by her grandmother’s den which is filled with souvenirs from her travels in West Africa and served as a way for her to connect to an ancestral home. This collection serves as a love letter to her late grandmother as well as a conversation between the artworks and sculptures in her home and in museums. Currently three of twelve chairs have been made and will be on view together with the research and drawings by the designer along with a selection of books curated by Head Hi on the key topics in Love’s work.

Brianna Nichole Love is an emerging furniture designer based between New York City and San Antonio, TX, her hometown. Having always loved designing furniture because of the scale and freedom, Love decided to launch her own company fern to be an exploration and experiment in form and materiality. In addition to running fern, she is enrolled in the Masters of Architecture program at GSAPP. She studied Architecture and applied environmental science at Wellesley College.

Head Hi is a hybrid space dedicated to art, publications and coffee located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. We feature a curated selection of publications from around the globe. Working with local and international artists, designers, publishers, community members and organizations in various fields, Head Hi is a space for exploration and interaction that hosts talks, book launches, art shows, music performances and other events.

There will be an opening event for the exhibition on Wednesday, May 11 from 7-9pm