British designer Karen Ryan was invited by Balloon Contemporary in Chicago and commissioned to create a collection of “Custom Made” chairs from discarded chairs and other scraps. Inspired by American culture and childhood narratives and the Adventures of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Fin, she came up with a series of chairs that mixed cultural paraphernalia.

“There are five pieces in the ‘Custom Made U.S.A collection they traverse autobiographical narratives remembered from childhood to new narratives of my experience of America,” said Ryan.