Forest Night chair

Forest Night Chair is a hand-embroidered, wing-back chair by Ashley J MacDonald. Traditionally, wing-back chairs were designed to face the fire, protecting the sitter’s body heat. In contrast, Haudenosaunee cultures—like the Cayuga—view fire circles as communal spaces for sharing warmth and stories, standing in symbolic opposition to the isolating colonial form of the chair.

This piece embraces mixed roots, using the classic silhouette of a colonial wing-back is transformed with freestyle hand embroidery—layered in street-art-inspired imagery that channels a deep north, night-forest scene across the chair’s back bridging personal heritage and contemporary Indigenous expression.

Created as a gallery piece and later sold at auction to benefit Habitat for Humanity, the Forest Night Chair symbolizes hospitality, shared warmth, and the power of storytelling through craft—combining sustainable upcycling with cultural commentary and sculptural art.