The Leighed Table, 2024

The Leighed Table is a table setting where each piece of tableware draws inspiration from the etymological roots of reproductive anatomy. The name, “getting Leighed,” nods to the infamous Everleigh brothel of 19th-century Chicago. Plates are modeled after placentas, the Greek word meaning “flat plate.” Drinking horns mimic fallopian tubes, referencing the mistranslation of the Italian tuba as “horn”. The centerpiece, inspired by the Latin pelvis, meaning "basin", anchors the table arrangement. Chicken eggs symbolize "ovum", and mulberries for the Latin "morula", represent 16 cells stage of fetal development. The moss placemats reflect the root of embryonic as “in moss” and oversized candlesticks evoke ovaries.

By drawing on Renaissance anatomical discoveries and the formal language of Renaissance still life painting, The Leighed Table critiques how scientific abstraction analogizes “female” reproductive organs with domestic tableware, exposing language shapes our understanding of the body.