The ‘Distortion’ Bench By Najla El Zein

The Beirut-based designer’s expressive work is informed by experiences of the unconscious, desire and femininity. Her practice often centers around anthropomorphic forms, created through repeat arrangements of man-made materials. In her ‘Distortion’ “Emotional distortion leads to changes of perception”benches, El Najila establishes a refined, minimal approach to design. This is interrupted by a seamless mound of material excess that alludes to “transformational changes of distinct spatial interactions.” In regard to her inspiration for the sculptural collection, El Najila explains, “Emotional distortion leads to changes of perception, intuition as well as confusion, affecting into new proportions of realities, an alteration of the self, the being, with an inner and outer transformation.”