Headless Horses

Object: Chest of drawers, 2013, Limited Edition
Description: lacquered beech, vintage saddle, horse hair tail | Dimensions: 130 x 64 x 86cm

In October 2012 I was commissioned by Moissonnier to reinterpret one of their iconic chests as a limited edition work for their participation at Design Days Dubai 2013.
Looking at the chest shape in one of the brown colour shades, the first thing that came to mind was the shape of a horse’s body. Somehow I remembered Dali’s famous elephant drawings and his sculpture with long skinny legs. From there I started my design research and exploration, linking it to my Dubai roots and how the city hosts the ‘Dubai World Cup’ – one of the richest horse races in the world. My design interpretation has transformed two of the Moissonnier chests into pieces of art – sculptures that tell the stories of two legendary horses that were victorious at the Dubai World Cup and which left behind great memories. The dramatic side of these stories is that both horses have since tragically died for different reasons. Therefore, I called the design story ‘HEADLESS HORSES’ and presented it as a commemoration for those horses and the history of the ‘Dubai World Cup’. The two horses according to their year of victory are: ‘Dubai Millennium’ (2000) & ‘Rewilding’ (2011).