Chairs Artist Statement

As Linda Stein has been addressing the theme of Power/Vulnerability for more than five decades. Her series Chairs, begun in 1978, are mixed-media assemblages that include symbolic elements on this theme. For example: 

Bowed Pole 66 and Pole Chairs 116 each incorporate a pole on which a ruler may grab hold while on a throne, much like a scepter. 

In Myth 100 the rope alludes to bondage.

Leaning Couple 63 implies one figure leaning against the other. With the artist’s continuing interest in Gender, her androgynous works seek to erase sexual boundaries. 

Skeletal Format 67 reflects Stein's lifelong interest in anatomy, rooted in her early studies at the Art Students League with Robert Beverly Hale.

Often Stein’s chairs are whimsical, as in Brush Swivel 64, which incorporates supplies used in the process of making art.

Open and Lift Out 65 reflects Stein’s striving to stretch beyond her immediate world as represented by her photographs of windows and doors.

Stein's Chairs are in the collection of Konstmuseet i Skövde in Sweden, the Cafesjian Art Trust Museum in Minnesota, and the Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York. In 2026 other chairs will be acquired, including by the Plains Museum in Fargo North Dakota, the New York State Museum in Albany New York, and the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

© Linda Stein, 2025