During the late 1920s while still at the Bauhaus, Josef Albers developed his so-called „nesting“ or „stacking tables”. These consist of four tables of different sizes that can be slid into one another. As a result of the nesting principle, the tables are great space-savers and thus far easier to store and transport than conventional ones. The tables are also distinguished by their clear geometrical design and by their glass table, each done in a different colour.

Inspired by Josef Albers’ table set, artist Meg Shirayama from Japan has devised her own “Nesting-Frame-Paintings”. Three square tables of different heights done in pink, yellow and white interlock to form a three-dimensional work. At the back of this piece is a systematic plan: each table is based on a square frame that is supported by C-shaped table legs. As a result of their differing heights and sizes, the tables can be interlocked in a variety of ways. Just that the gap at the centre of each table means it is robbed of its function as a useful item of furniture. Instead they are nested framed “paintings”, as the title indicates, that can be presented in different arrangements. When it comes to colours, Shirayama uses her own particular system. For smaller works she uses more intensive shades which do more justice to the size of the work, amplify the visual attention that the object receives, and also emphasize the material.

In her work Meg Shirayama references modern furniture design. With her furniture she examines the interactions between colour and material, with the focus of her work being directed to the changes that occur in the viewer’s mind and the architecture. Her “Nesting-Frame-Paintings” are part of a series that the artist defines as “three-dimensional pictures”. Her intention is that the medium of furniture can be used to provide the viewer with a new view of the painting in the classic sense. In addition an important part is played by the space in which the art is exhibited: it should be enlivened by the work and interact with it. In her work Meg Shirayama has created a new form of visual presentation that defunctionalizes the actual object as furniture and places it in a new artistic context.

Meg Shirayama

1982 born in Tokio  
Lives and works in London