Porky Hefer was born in 1968, in the era where Radical Design emerged with Futurist-designed environments and objects that were more than a chair or a table – pieces that would assault your eyes and also your spirit. It was during this time that Wendell Castle and Joe Colombo made units of self-sufficiency to isolate and change experiences completely. It opened up horizons and possibilities that fulfilled more than simply a basic need to sit.

Fascinated by the reactions and energy a piece can generate in a space, Hefer embraces Africa and the skills and processes that are readily available indigenously, rather than trying to emulate foreign processes. Making use of traditional techniques and crafts that focus on the hand rather than machinery, his work ensures that age-old skills are preserved and kept relevant in a modern age.

Fascinated by the weaver bird, Hefer’s life-size nests, woven with Kooboo cane, are a result of his in-depth study into this social bird’s nest-building skills, made relevant for a human audience. His work’s progression into limited-edition leather seating environments has further evolved this exploration of ways in which living pods can be presented.

Hefer has had numerous solo presentations of his work and is a two-time winner of the Design Foundation Icon Award (2013 and 2018). His first solo show, Monstera Deliciosa, Volume I, was presented at Southern Guild’s Cape Town gallery at the end of 2015, garnering rave local and international reviews. In 2016, he represented South Africa with Southern Guild at the inaugural London Design Biennale, which was followed by a solo exhibition at R & Company in New York in 2017.

His Endangered collection of sculptural seating pods made of eco-friendly and recycled materials was exhibited to widespread acclaim at Design Miami/ Basel in 2018. Co-presented by Southern Guild and SFA Advisory, proceeds from the project benefited the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Hefer’s large-scale installation, Plastocene – Marine Mutants From a Disposable World, made its world premiere at the 2020 NGV Triennial at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. Commissioned by the museum, the collection of large-scale handmade seating environments draws attention to ocean pollution by imagining mutant sea creatures evolved from plastic bags, straws, and coffee cups. The installation was named Best Cautionary Tale at the Wallpaper* Design Awards, 2022.

In 2023, Hefer presented his fourth solo exhibition with Southern Guild, Volume IV. Chaos Calamus – Interspecies Reciprocal Altruism. Woven entirely in Kooboo cane, the collection of seating pods incorporated carved timber sculptures by artist Adam Birch, for the first time. The body of work inventively reflects on the phenomenon of mutually beneficial symbiosis between species.