[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
- Hey.
Thank goodness. I was lonely.
Just standing here, waiting for everybody.
How's everybody doing?
- Good. - Good.
I got to tell you, a lot of the pieces
you guys made for the first challenge
were so inspiring, truly works of art,
and that is why I'm so excited to introduce you guys
to a very special guest today.
Not only is she an extremely accomplished actress,
businesswoman, and philanthropist.
She was also a costar of mine for a few years,
and she's married to someone we all know very well.
Designers, please help me welcome Portia de Rossi.
[cheers and applause]
- Hi, designers. - Hey.
- Portia. - Scott.
- You look fantastic. - Thank you.
- How are you? - The last time I saw you...
- What? - You were rolling up
my dead body in a rug on "Scandal."
[laughter] - Yes.
If you guys didn't watch, Portia died on "Scandal."
I may have been the one responsible for it,
and I had to roll her body up.
She was covered--caked in...
- Brains. - Dried blood. It was--
- You were very nice about it, though.
- It was a great ending for you, though.
- It was, wasn't it? - It was, yeah.
Well, I know that you have been dying to meet our designers.
- Yes, I have, I've heard all about you from Ellen,
and I've seen some of your work.
I'm such a fan.
That's why I'm thrilled
I can help you guys with your next challenge.
- Yes, tell us about your company, about General Public.
- Well, General Public is an art publishing company,
and we find amazing art
from great artists all over the world,
and we reproduce it using 3D technology
to create all of the texture
and brushstrokes of the original.
So we're bringing great artists and great art
to the general public, hence the name.
- Designers, for your next challenge,
you will have four days to complete a piece of furniture
inspired by art
from Portia's company, General Public.
Portia and Ellen personally
picked out the pieces just for this challenge.
Take a look on the screen over here.
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
- Baby!
- Hi.
Hey, baby.
We are at General Public.
It's my art publishing company.
All right, I've got some really cool stuff to show you.
- Yeah? I can't wait. - Yeah.
And this is our factory.
This is where we make beautiful art.
- Just an idea she had in her head.
- So we're scanning the original.
We can probably print this while you're still here,
actually. - Okay.
I'm so proud of her. I mean, it's amazing.
- I just think this is so unique.
Like, what are they gonna do with that?
- Yeah, it's fantastic. I love the colors of that.
We both love design. We both love furniture.
We both love art.
So why not put it together
and why not create a challenge around it?
- I figured it would be really cool
to see what one of your designers
would do with a still life. - Love that.
- For us, furniture and art just go hand in hand.
This one, to me, is just so bold.
But to actually think
about how are you gonna design furniture
around a piece of art is a different way to go about it.
This would be an interesting challenge for somebody,
'cause it has so much movement.
- Yep, I like them all.
- So I kind of covered the gamut.
I hope we see really different,
interesting pieces of furniture.
Thanks for helping with this.
This is, like, what I do all day--
wrestle with these things.
- I think she picked out some amazing pieces.
I mean, they're all good,
and it'll be interesting to see what they do with them.
I'm gonna put that like that.
- Oh, no. - No?
- Eh. - Somebody come help!
- They'll do it. - Okay.
- There it goes. It's rolling.
- Can you--can you help? It's rolling away.
Okay. Okay, good.
All right, let's get out of here
before you break something.
[laughter]
- All right. So what is it like
to spend your life around art all day long?
- It's very inspiring,
just as it is spending your life around amazing furniture.
So I can't wait to see what they're gonna do with this.
Anyway, it was great to see you.
- All right, thank you for coming out.
- Thank you, Scott. Thanks, guys. Good luck.
all: Thank you. - See you soon.
- Yeah, have a good one.
- Well, are you guys ready to see the paintings?
I know I am. all: Yes.
- All right. Let's light it up.
[bright music]
- Wow. - Whoa.
- These pieces have been randomly assigned to you guys.
Go ahead and check it out, please.
- Oh, wow. - Amazing.
This feels like it's in my wheelhouse.
I studied art, and I studied design,
and my mom's an art historian.
It speaks the language that I'm used to speaking.
I feel very confident about this piece.
- Guys, take in the color, the lines,
the symmetry, or lack of.
You know, anything you can use
when you're designing your next piece.
- This is so aggressive.
My painting gives me a lot of aggression.
It makes me feel uneasy.
Like, I don't know what I'm going to do.
- All right, guys, don't just stand there.
Grab them, they're yours. Take them with you.
- They're ours? - Take them.
- Wait, what do you mean? - Like, take them home?
- Out the door. - How heavy is this?
- Oh, Jesus. - I got it.
- You need help? Here, I'll get that.
- I think I can barely get it. [laughter]
- See you back here in four days.
- Okay. - Wait for me.
- Urvi stole her name. - Here we go.
- Yeah, dude, it's my name. I own it.
- [chuckles]
[car horns honking]
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
- Love it.
There are endless possibilities inspired by this painting.
I don't know, I'm thinking, like, bench.
We could--we could do a loveseat.
I've never designed one before.
I don't know how to do this, but we could try it.
- Man, sort of reminds me of the days
when I used to smoke pot, man.
Just talk, like, hours about, you know, some--
- Hours trying to figure out something, right?
- Man, yeah.
- I have several ideas. Maybe a chair.
Perhaps a coffee table or cabinet.
But the thing-- I want to come up with ideas
to manufacture in the time that we have.
- Yeah, efficiency.
- I'd like to see if, this time,
it could be a little less stressful.
- I love the, like,
white on white in the tones.
- What kind of furniture piece are you thinking?
- I think the first thing that comes to mind
is some kind of seating.
I'm super excited about this piece.
- I mean, dude, this could be anything.
This is crazy. - Okay.
♪ ♪
- And now we've gone through 50, 60 different sketches.
Let's make a decision. - Okay.
- How about a desk? - It's gonna take too long.
- But you want to win? You want to win?
- You want to be done by Friday?
- I think I need to call Momma.
- What's up? Where are you?
- I'm in the middle of this challenge.
I need your help.
I'm feeling like a bookcase,
like a sideboard or credenza.
- You have to finish this by Saturday?
- Friday.
- What? How you gonna do that?
[laughter]
- Something tells me that we're gonna make a crazy decision
and be super challenged again.
Nico, what do you think?
You want a chair that you can get cozy in?
[dog whimpers]
[mellow music]
♪ ♪
- What do you think when you first see this?
- The colors are aggressive.
I see caution. I see danger.
- Yeah. - I see apprehension.
I guess when you're in a dangerous situation,
you only have, is what?
- You don't want to think. - Your intuition.
- Exactly, you gotta... - So...
- Go with the flow.
- That's what's gonna happen. - Here we go.
- I take these two colors, yellow and the black.
For me, these two colors
represent caution, caution tape.
They represent danger. They represent apprehension.
And this is exactly how I'm feeling right now.
Last week, the judges put fire under my ass,
because I was in the bottom two.
- The problems with the piece
were the execution of the craftsmanship.
- The craftsmanship, it wasn't what we initially planned.
I just wanted to play it safe.
- And--Jesus, mother.
All right, well that makes me a little nervous.
- What I'm gonna do for this challenge is I'm going to do
what I'm used to doing, not being safe about anything.
I have an idea.
We're gonna go heavy on concept for this one.
- Oh, wow. Okay.
- The project became an opportunity
for me to send a message to myself:
believing in yourself.
The piece of furniture I'm designing is about
an opportunity for you, the user of the object,
to see yourself on a pedestal,
encased in a glass vitrine,
and is a reminder that you are special
and that you can do anything you want to.
[upbeat jazzy music]
It is an opportunity for me to show strength and persistence.
This is like museum-quality pedestal,
so everything has to be even better than furniture.
♪ ♪
- I mean, this, to me, is just like
calling for marble, maybe some rubber.
I could see it also being, like, some kind of a chair
that plays off of the squares.
So my idea is to make a chair
using slabs of marble for each side,
and then a sling chair out of recycled rubber,
that I work with a lot, and connect those two pieces
with brass rods and custom brass hardware.
Maybe we can find, like, some of those green tones
that were in the-- in the painting.
Not too far from my studio in Brooklyn,
there are, you know, many marble yards
with remnant pieces of marble...
All right, let's remember this piece,
and we'll come back to it.
I think this one's a little too gray.
That are left over from bigger jobs
that have been discarded.
I think this is the one. - I think so too.
- This chair is a risk,
because I've never made a chair.
I mean, I'm actually nervous about this--this piece.
There's just a lot to pull off.
[bright music]
- I don't know, I'm leaning towards loveseat.
I think it's comfortable. - Yeah, that'd be cool.
- I think we can make something dynamic.
I'm thinking steel.
So I decided to make a loveseat,
because I wanted to hand-dye the fabric
to look like the splatters in the painting.
- I've only dyed one thing,
being the Joker for Halloween.
- Yeah?
- Purple all over my bathtub.
- [laughs]
- Yo, I just want to say these are badass.
- Thank you, Fernando. - These are badass.
- That means--
The judges loved my pieces the first week.
- These are absolutely stunning.
- I have proven that I can do this
and that I'm not someone to be [bleep] with.
I never even quite thought about doing this like this.
♪ ♪
Yeah, I'm definitely a little nervous,
because this is the first time I've ever hand-dyed fabric.
See, look at that. Isn't that a beautiful tone?
See that? Yes.
This is gonna give that darkness that we need.
♪ ♪
Yeah, the color is getting close
to the colors you see in the painting.
- Yeah. - I hope that the judges see
that I took very thoughtful steps
to be inspired by the painting
to create this piece of furniture.
It's amazing. - So cool.
- Like magic.
[jazzy music]
♪ ♪
- ♪ Suddenly you realize ♪
♪ This town's number one ♪
♪ Our New York ♪
♪ Our New York love's just begun ♪
♪ ♪
[knocks] - Come in.
[gasps] - Hey, Christina.
- Oh, my God. - How are you?
Well, I was in the area, and thought I'd come by.
There it is.
- Yes. - There's the art.
- That's the painting. - Inspiring for you?
- Very inspiring. - Yeah?
- Too inspiring. - And what did you end up with?
What--what is the project?
- Well, I've sort of named it a cloud chair
because it's really puffy, and you just melt into it.
- I like it.
- I landed on the idea of a chair,
like a really puffy, cloudy pub chair.
We have a lamp incorporated into this.
- I love that. I love that. - Do you?
- You know, we do have someone here who can test this out.
- Really? - Yeah. Nico.
- Why not? Nico.
- Nico's the boss.
- So cute. - Okay.
Let's get this guy up there. What do you think, buddy boy?
Should we do it? That's a good boy.
- Nico, what do you think? What do you think?
- And he loves the art too.
- I love the art. Can I tell you?
- I love those fine black lines,
which I'm incorporating into embroidery.
- I like it. Okay.
A little concerned with the timing,
just the upholstery of it all, 'cause I know how delicate
and detailed and time-consuming it can be.
- It was really cool to have Scott's input.
He really understood what I was doing.
He was really excited about the design.
He really did have a valid point.
I need to do a lot of work.
Thank you coming.
- Thanks for having me in your studio.
- Thank you. Of course, anytime. - We'll see you guys.
I'm gonna take that piece with me too.
- Are you?
- No. - Oh.
[laughter]
[hip-hop music]
♪ ♪
- We're at Rubel Patel.
My guy Mike is an amazing fabricator.
I'm here to get his help
figuring out the structure of the chair.
So we need to test the grommets,
make sure they're strong enough,
and also just the rubber itself if it's strong enough.
I'm not totally sure if the rubber's gonna work,
and I've never used it in this way,
where you're putting a whole person's weight on it.
But I think it's definitely worth the risk.
My mind is racing with backup plans in case it doesn't work.
♪ ♪
- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- Tell the competition-- tell them to sit down,
'cause it's a wrap. [laughs]
- No time for gloves, man. Hurry.
- Hey, wait, well, these are designer gloves, man.
Come on, man. I'm happy about the progress.
It's gonna be a pretty awesome desk.
So if you look at the painting,
"The Power of Collision,"
right, when these two pieces collide,
what is the result?
What is the aesthetic result of this--this collision?
This is nice, man. Now this is looking hot.
- Once the leg is there... - I can see it.
- It's gonna be really nice. - It's a wrap.
The leg side of the desk,
we're actually going to construct
a three-dimensional abstraction.
The way we interpret this painting into the desk
is the leg is colliding with the desktop,
and that collision has created a very unique detail.
Well, some of the joints doesn't quite line up.
That detail has multiple cuts and angles.
There's nothing square about it.
We haven't gotten it right, but we must get it right.
The whole desk doesn't quite make sense
if we don't bring this detail home here.
Man, that's it right there. That's it right there.
We think we have a hot piece.
We just now have to bring everything together.
The competition should be very concerned.
That's the magic.
♪ ♪
- One down.
120 to go.
This credenza design,
it's so open and transparent, visually,
because the main things that I got from the painting
were a sense of sort of empty space.
I have to cut 120 profiles
to go all the way around.
It's not fun, but I'm gonna have to live with it.
I can't tell if I'm hungry or tired, or both.
This challenge is definitely harder,
but I did a little research on the painter,
and she lived in Providence.
I came here to attend
the Rhode Island School of Design,
and growing up in New Delhi was very different
to Providence, Rhode Island, but I've warmed up to it.
And being in the area for the last seven years,
I do have a sense of aesthetic that's coming through,
and that I could translate it in my piece.
For example, I ended up finding that the inkberry
were used to make black dye.
I'm gonna put this solution that I concocted
and turn everything deep black.
I'm feeling good about my design.
I think it has high potential to win this challenge,
because it has such a deep story behind it,
and I think it's gonna impress the judges.
[tense music]
- Two days.
- We still gotta do the finish work.
Pretty much, we have to be almost done tomorrow
with all of this.
- I just want to-- just want to get this done.
- I'm freaking out, but we're gonna have to just--
- I mean, we got, like, minimal time.
Just have to do what we can do.
Go with the flow, man. - Yeah.
- We gotta do it. We gotta do it.
- Right.
♪ ♪
- I'm so excited that I was gonna spend
my entire day welding up the loveseat.
Okay, ready when you are.
[upbeat electronic music]
♪ ♪
- Erica, look at your welds.
- I look at it, and I immediately think,
"This is completely incorrect."
This is so off.
- It just--yeah, it's glaring. - So off.
Yeah, it's glaring.
One of the curves is, like, slanted sideways,
and the whole top part, where the seat is, is pivoted.
How the hell are we gonna fix this?
[piece snaps] Ooh.
Need to even out that bend.
We kind of went forward and then backwards.
We need to re-bend and re-weld all those weld seams
that we had just put together.
Ooh. Got it right the second time.
[chuckles]
This has got to be perfect.
Otherwise, there is no way I can show this.
The judges are gonna eat me alive.
- Do you like the fabric, now that it's upholstered?
What do you think?
- It's better than I imagined it.
- Yeah.
Justin and I did all the prep work
in terms of building the structure of the chair.
And then we sent it out to be upholstered.
Ah, the shape of that is so stunning.
We have a big, cloud-like cushion,
and I'm just loving this fabric.
It just has such a supple feel to it.
♪ ♪
I stumbled across this technique called felting.
It's often used for children's toys.
I'm using it in an embroidered way.
And you can see some of those
really fine black lines in the painting,
and I want to see that in my piece.
♪ ♪
All of the skills that I learned in fashion,
in school, like tailoring-- they translate
incredible well to furniture design also.
I come from a family of makers, and it's in my DNA.
My grandfather was a bespoke shoemaker,
and so was my father.
And I also am a trained leather artisan.
I've been designing furniture since 2005.
I really felt like a lot of my skills
and talents really come from my family,
and I definitely want to make them proud.
While you finish the legs, we have to get this lamp
wired up to make it in time for the deadline.
- Let's get to work.
[up-tempo music]
♪ ♪
- I don't have much time.
I'm super nervous, because I haven't seen
all the pieces together at all yet for the chair.
And something, you know, could totally go wrong.
- Cool. - Oh, nice. Mike.
- Wow. - It's so good.
I think all the details are really coming together.
But I still need to finalize the seat.
Ah. Pressure.
Lydia and I are gonna basically work
on punching the holes for the grommets
and installing them.
- Are you scared? [laughs] - I'm a little nervous.
If the grommets aren't in right,
the seat could be crooked
or it could not be strong enough to hold a person.
Perfect.
This all looks lined up, right?
Wait. Is it centered?
- Uh-huh.
Ooh, this one's off. - What?
- It's off an inch. - Oh, no!
Ah, I should have double-checked.
- Oh, shit.
I mean, the pressure's definitely getting to me.
We don't have a ton of time left,
so hopefully I can just fix this one
and not have to remake the entire seat.
[air whooshing]
- Construction is done.
It's now time to take it into the paint booth.
[hip-hop music]
- ♪ Baby we ain't got time ♪
♪ If you take it and tuck the clock... ♪
The inner lining is one color.
The outer shell of the legs is another color.
That takes a lot of time.
- ♪ Give me special delivery ♪
- With a combination of maybe
the rabbit's foot and some prayer,
we might be able to pull this-- pull this thing off.
- It's the last day of the challenge.
I'm trying to stay Zen. I'm trying to stay focused.
And today everything comes together.
It's gonna get done.
My mirror sat on a pedestal. It's coming together.
But I feel--I'll tell you guys that I feel great,
but I'm not gonna tell myself I feel great.
Yeah, it's great. Okay, let's flip this over.
- [laughs] You have no time to admire it.
- No, we don't. - Excitement.
- We can look at it when it's done.
- Keep your eyes on the prize.
- Which is to get this assembled.
I have to go. Like, I have so much work to do.
I'm focused today, because, like,
I just want this to be over.
But you're at an angle.
- I know, because I'm-- - Why you going at an angle?
- This piece. - No, don't do that.
- Whichever way. - Yeah. No.
Turn that around. No. Don't do that.
Will is stressing me out.
You got it? - I'm right there.
Hold on, stay right there.
- I got it. [indistinct chatter]
After last week, after being in the bottom two,
I don't have a choice. I have to bring it.
It's gonna be a very packed day,
and I'm gonna use every single last second.
I need to get this velveted, and we need to--we need to--
Will, we're running out of time.
- All right.
♪ ♪
- Is it resting on that side?
- Yep. - Okay.
Just make sure you get an 1/8 gap on that end.
- I can't figure out an 1/8 gap right now.
- Like, just visually.
- Today is a very busy last day.
We are getting ready to put the credenza together.
I am a little concerned
about whether I'm gonna make it on time or not.
- There's four hours left, and we need to do the door.
What? Stop laughing.
- [laughs]
Sorry, your voice goes really high when you're stressed.
- Yeah, of course it does. - [laughs]
- What? - That fits.
Look at how beautiful that is.
It's close to the very end of the second challenge.
We got our cushions back from the upholsterer.
Matt's cut all the lemons up so that I can start
squeezing these lemons into the bucket.
I am nervous about the citric acid and lemon juice effect.
- It's only your whole life on this.
- I'm, like, nervous. - [laughs]
- Wherever the spray touches,
the velvet should turn into these white splatters.
Spray bottle's getting stuck with the lemon.
This is gonna take too long.
So I'm like, "Oh, God. What are we gonna do?"
It was just not working. We're getting it done.
- Down to the wire. - But this is not a good time.
- This is how we roll.
- All right, we have less than an hour left.
The final hour is the most stressful time
of this competition,
and I'm really frustrated with myself,
because some of the most delicate parts--
and I've left them to last minute, and it's my own fault.
Okay, it's crunch time, everyone.
We have to get this lamp wired up.
I'm down to the wire. Puns intended.
And I'm wiring in my lamp, which is quite dangerous.
I'm not a beginner, but I'm not a pro either.
- Okay. - Oh, boy.
- All right. Will, let's check this finish oil.
William. - Yo.
- Hurry up. - Oh, my God, dude.
- Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Come on.
- Just stop talking to me. I know what time it is.
- So now I have to just not mess up this next part.
Whoo. We fixed it, I think.
- No, not too much. Not too much.
Ooh. That was a good one.
♪ ♪
- Get ready with the tape, please. Okay.
We're good. - Yeah?
- Yeah, we're good. - There we go.
Done. It's done and it's perfect.
- Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.
- Okay, it's done.
- Ah!
I just finished my piece,
and I think that the judges are gonna be like, "Wow."
- Time.
- Wow.
- I hope that the judges see
that I took the whole soul of this painting
and put it into this piece of furniture.
- Yay.
- Just got it done in time.
- [whimpers] - Yeah, just for you.
- ♪ You can see the wave, it's passing us ♪
♪ High off the memories, best friends from sometime ♪
♪ That time is the enemy, yeah ♪
- I'm very excited about this challenge.
- Yeah, I think it was an interesting challenge for them.
- Art is such a great form,
can be, of self-expression.
And so I'm hoping that that sort of factors into
what--what we see.
- I agree. - Yeah.
♪ ♪
- Well, hello there. - Hi, judges.
- Hi. - Hello, hello.
- I'm so excited to present this piece.
I'm also nervous.
It's a loveseat, so what's not to love?
How are you doing? - Doing very well.
We're excited to see what you got for us.
We have your painting back here, "Basin."
Can you tell us what you thought when you first saw it?
- It's a great piece. I was so inspired by it.
I could see so much in there,
and it was really hard to decide what I would make.
A lot of the forms that you see
speak to the forms of furniture.
So I wanted to make a piece of upholstery.
- You ready to show it to us? - I'm ready.
- All right. Let's light it up.
[bright music]
♪ ♪
- I have a background in embroidery,
and I wanted to bring that into the piece.
There's these really lovely wiry, meandering lines.
- Oh, cool. - Look at that.
- I just want to touch.
- I love this move. It's so--
- Yeah, stunning. - And the way--the linework.
This could turn into a larger couch, I think, as well.
I think that that's maybe
the only quirky thing about it, is the scale.
- It's a very accommodating piece.
It welcomes you.
You can have a drink there. You can read a book.
It's really, you know, about embracing you.
- Yeah, it's giving me kind of, like, French '60s,
'70s, along with, like, just contemporary,
and it's so clear to me
what this is and what I'm supposed to do here.
And it's beautiful.
- Having last week's piece and now this,
I'm getting into the groove of who you are,
what your work is about, and it's really sophisticated.
- I love the solitude that this piece gives me.
Thank you, Christina. Thanks for showing to us.
- Amazing. Thanks so much.
- Good job. - Well done.
- I want to create that
emotional experience for people,
whether it's joy or just creating that wow factor.
[percussive music]
♪ ♪
- Hey, guys. - Mark.
- Hi, Mark. - I'm still here.
I'm feeling nervous as heck,
because based on what happened last week,
I don't know what is going through the judges' heads.
- How was your--your mindset after last week's judging?
- I was having, like-- I went back
and was having flashbacks of my entire life.
- Wow.
- Such a moment that I was not prepared for.
- You got the piece "Time Out"
from Portia's collection this week.
We're all just gonna take a look at it here.
- My initial thoughts was that it was a bit aggressive,
but I moved past it.
I'm really happy with the piece.
- Good. - And that's where we're at.
- All right. Let's light it up, please.
[lively music]
♪ ♪
- The initial idea for this piece, it was called
"Put Me On a Pedestal."
There's a mirror inside this display case.
You are being reflected in this display case.
And it's you on this pedestal to give yourself more respect,
and you're also getting these crazy visuals in here as well.
- Ah. - [chuckles]
♪ ♪
- I'm just intrigued.
It's, like...
- It keeps revealing itself. - Evolving, you know?
- Yeah, it does. [chuckles]
- This is exceptionally crafted.
You know, and I love it as a mirror.
I would have this thing
just as a work of art in my home, man.
- I look at that painting, and I got it.
This is a representation of how the picture made you feel.
- Ugh. [laughs]
- Mark, this is a-- this is a beautiful,
phenomenal, personal piece, and it's so impressive.
- You guys are making me sweat. - I'm so intrigued, man.
- You've given us life with this piece.
Like, it's just--it's got so much dimension to it.
It just keeps revealing itself over and over again.
- Yeah. - The more I go around it,
the more I see, the more I love it.
I don't know what piece you would put in here,
because it's-- it's everything unto itself.
- Look, we all love it. - Yeah.
- Thanks, man. I appreciate it.
- Congratulations. - Thank you, Mark.
- I think this week I raised the bar,
to be honest.
I think I raised the bar
for the other competitors and myself,
and I'm ready to take control of this competition.
♪ ♪
- Hey. - Hi, Urvi.
- Hello. - Hello.
- I think that the judges are gonna see something
different than they usually do.
I'm hoping the judges will be, like,
completely enamored by it
and, you know, want to just look into it more and more.
- We were just discussing your painting.
- Kind of felt like the chicken feet
or the cow tongue of the challenge.
[laughter] The way, like, it's--
you know, it's the piece you're given
that people expect you to do worse with.
But if you play it right,
you can come out with something amazing.
- Well, we're excited to see. You ready?
- Yeah. - All right, let's light it up.
[bright music]
♪ ♪
- I was going for more of the emotion
that I received from the painting.
I looked at mussel shells,
I looked at twigs, at branches...
- Mm-hmm. - Or sticks.
And the berries on it are used to create black dye.
I used those cues
to guide my design choices with this piece.
- Hello.
- It's different.
- Yeah.
When I first saw it,
I loved how the light comes through this.
Okay, I think that's a really interesting design choice.
I'm having a bit of a hard time getting from the painting
through your head to the piece.
- Right. - That said,
it's a strong piece.
Have I seen it before? Maybe.
- It's beautifully made.
I'd be careful about what I was gonna put inside,
'cause you're definitely gonna see it.
I think the craftsmanship is great.
But I see a lot of beautifully well-made pieces,
and so I'm looking for you to push me forward.
- What do you think, Fernando?
- It's elegant, but it's kind of conventional.
And so is it moving the ball forward,
in terms of, you know, furniture design?
I'm not sure.
- I think you made a solid piece.
Thank you for showing it to us.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Yep.
- I'm feeling a little confused,
because in the first week,
the judges really liked my work.
This week, they seem ambivalent.
It does make me nervous.
♪ ♪
- Hi, guys. - Hey.
- Hi. - Hi, Erica, how are you?
- I am happy how my loveseat turned out,
and I'm ready to impress the judges
second week in a row.
- How was the week for you, working on this?
- For me, this piece ended up being--
I don't know, weirdly spot on.
I know it was a total coincidence,
but I felt like it really captured a moment in time,
and a lot of my work tries to capture a moment in time.
And I really went with that dynamic sort of quality,
that fluid quality, and I really took that to heart
when I made my--my loveseat.
- I'm dying to see it. - Yeah.
- Can we show it? - Of course.
- All right, let's light it up.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- When I saw the painting,
I thought that I wanted it to look like it was floating.
I love the idea of being able to sit in something
and actually stare at the painting,
so I really went for that.
- All right.
- I mean, I was really thinking entryway, foyer piece.
- I don't think it was designed to be a lounging...
- No. - Hanging out.
- I think when we heard loveseat,
I was thinking of something else.
Because when I think of a loveseat,
I'm thinking of-- there's, you know,
two people that can sit there and enjoy it.
It was not the most comfortable
or the easiest sort of place to sit and enjoy.
Separately, I like a lot about it.
Looking at the fabric, I want to make something
with this fabric. - Mm-hmm.
- I mean, I think it's absolutely stunning--
- It's all hand-dyed. - Yeah.
And that speaks so much to me about you and your process,
and you're so organic in what you do.
And that part, I love.
Together, I can't say that I love this
and would want to--
to purchase it for-- for a client.
- Got it. Got it.
- I can't say I'm a fan of this piece at all.
- Okay. - Unfortunately.
Like, I don't know.
I'm having trouble making sense of this with this, the shape.
I'm having trouble with this piece, 100%.
And the scale is so off. Like, ridiculously off.
Like, this is a tiny thing.
- It's funny, I see what you're saying,
but I look at it differently,
because I can definitely see the painting in this.
I think the metalwork,
the curves and the movement, is really impressive.
Some elements work really well here,
but some that are more confusing.
- You know, I thought that it all,
in some senses, kind of circled within each other.
- Got it. - Okay.
Well, thank you for showing it to us.
We appreciate it. Thanks for your work.
- Thank you. Thank you. - Yeah, of course, of course.
- I'm stunned. I shocked.
I thought the piece was gonna be a hit.
I put it all on the line
and somehow it wasn't enough this week,
and that's killing me.
I'm not done fighting to be here.
- Yeah. - Here she comes.
- Oh-ho. - Hi.
- Hello, hello. - Hi, guys.
I really wanted this piece to be almost, like,
inhabiting the painting.
I think the judges are really gonna love it.
And also, they're gonna see, like, what I bring each week.
- So the art challenge. How was your week?
- It was definitely nerve-wracking.
I really connected with the painting that I was given.
And I really think that, you know,
art is about eliciting an emotional response.
- Absolutely.
- There's a lot of texture in this piece.
So I thought that was a really important part
to kind of take inspiration from.
- Very cool. - I like that.
- Before you go any further, can we see it?
- Yes, please. - All right, let's light it up.
[gentle music]
♪ ♪
- My initial reaction was to draw from kind of
these organic gestures,
and that made me think of a slab of marble,
and cut it and re-assemble it to create a new composition.
The seat is made out of recycled rubber.
That's kind of a signature material that I work with.
♪ ♪
Drawing out all of these different kind of textures
from the materials was really meant to draw back
to the composition of the painting.
- Whatever your process was, it was working for you.
I'm in love with this. - Thank you.
- This, I can see the same designer here.
I can absolutely see that the same designer--
the attention to detail, the precision.
I think that this is absolutely spectacular.
- It's not the most comfortable piece I've ever sat in, no.
- It's not a La-Z-Boy. - No, it's not a La-Z-Boy, so--
but this is a work of art, so I kind of like--
- It really is. - You know what, who cares?
- To do something that we've never really seen before,
something that-- that draws our eye,
is extremely difficult to do.
I think you've achieved a lot with this.
Comfort, I have a bit of a problem with.
That said, I can't stop looking at it.
- Great. Awesome. - Congratulations.
- Thank you. - And thank you for this.
- Thank you so, so much. Thanks again.
- Thanks, Arielle.
- I feel super proud.
I don't think anyone was expecting it.
I think it established me
as a serious threat in this competition.
♪ ♪
- Here he is.
Hi, Paul. - Hello, hello.
- Hello, hello again. - Hello.
- Before you walked out, we all said,
"Man, I wonder what he's wearing today."
- I'm feeling very energetic, and I'm feeling very positive.
Today is my day.
- So you were given the piece titled
"The Power of Collision."
What'd you think about it when you first saw it?
- So something smashing into something else
is gonna create something new.
So even though we're looking at a big piece,
it's--it is one part of the detail.
It's this one detail that really tells that story.
- Good, well, should we take a look at it?
- We should definitely take a look at it.
- All right, let's light it up.
[bright music]
♪ ♪
- As I was trying to, again, interpret the painting,
you know, my mind went to these celestial bodies, right?
Sort of floating out in space.
So that's why the upper part is not connected to the base.
- Oh, wow.
Look at that.
- Interesting. - Yes.
It's a writing desk, by the way.
It's a writing desk.
♪ ♪
- I'm gonna be really honest. - Okay.
- My gut reaction is that it feels
like a very commercial piece,
a piece that would go into fabrication on a larger scale.
- Is that a bad thing? - Yeah.
So I'm just addressing this as--
as that sort of style of piece.
- Yep. - Versus, you know, artistic.
I feel like this is more in that realm.
I love this detail. I think this is the moment.
I wonder if it's a--whoop, trip--hazard, I wonder.
But maybe you could speak to that more.
- Yeah. - But that was my only little,
like, oh, design issue.
- I do give you credit for making something different.
I--I like the angles on it.
I think that's part of what makes it so cool.
- I don't see it as a piece of home furnishing.
If I showed up to a new job,
and this was my desk, I'd be thrilled.
- Right. - Yes. Of course.
- I'd be thrilled, right?
- I'm still wanting to see you.
- This is a good piece. It's a solid piece.
- It is a good piece. - It is a good piece.
- It's not blowing our minds, but it's a good piece.
- Okay. I take "good."
- All right. Thanks, man.
- Okay, thank you. - Thanks for showing us.
You got it, man. - Thank you.
- I mean, I wanted to impress them.
I'm hoping it's enough to get to go on to next week.
But I walked away from the criticism
feeling like, I mean, it is what it is.
Not everyone has to like it.
- [sighs] - Well, Mark won the day.
- I appreciate the comment, guys,
but, like, I don't necessarily think that's true.
- It's really in predictable. both: It is unpredictable.
- I'm very nervous that I'm gonna be in the bottom two.
There's just a lot of emotions running through.
I'm holding it back as much as I possibly can,
because I know what I signed up for.
And I know that this is gonna be tough.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- Hi, guys. - Hi.
♪ ♪
- It's okay.
I'm just feeling the weight of everything right now.
The wind is completely knocked out of me.
I'm so afraid that I'm going home, and that's killing me.
- Designers, this week we asked you
to create a piece of furniture
inspired by a painting that was selected for you
specifically by Ellen and Portia.
I got to say, the pieces that you gave us
were actually really inspiring to us.
You guys are-- are truly talented.
Some of the work that we've seen
has been phenomenal, you guys.
That being said,
there were a few that really stood out to us.
- Mark.
You blew us away today, man. - [chuckles]
- The fact that being at the bottom last week,
and then this week just showing us who you really are--
it exemplified what this competition is about,
which is pushing the boundaries.
Everything was there.
Everything that this competition is about
was in that piece.
You blew us all away, but you blew me away,
and I congratulate you.
- Thank you.
- And Arielle.
Collectively, which is not easy to do,
you blew us all away, all three of us.
I thought it was one of the most beautiful
and usable pieces of furniture
I've seen in a really long time.
And from last week to this week,
I could actually put the coffee table
and the chair together
and see who you are as a designer,
and they would work beautifully together.
So well done. - Yeah.
- Thank you. Thank you. - Beautiful, beautiful work.
- And Christina.
You know, I was lucky enough to be in your studio
when you were designing this.
I had no idea that the piece
was gonna turn out like it did,
and what you brought us here
was a moment of comfort and joy,
and we loved it as soon as we saw it.
It was just beautiful. So thank you for that.
[gentle music]
There are a couple who were not as successful this week,
in our opinion.
- So, Erica.
The fabric was beautiful, and again,
the metalwork was beautiful.
Just didn't come together for us.
♪ ♪
- And Paul.
You're a great designer.
You've already shown us in the first two pieces.
But this week, we felt like it's been a little bit safe
and a bit conventional.
And we're really looking for someone that's gonna stand out
as a great next designer,
something that we haven't seen, really unique things,
and felt like, you know, a painted surface--
there was a lot of little things that were, like,
just not taking it to that next step that we need to see.
- Unfortunately, we do have to send one you guys home today.
[suspenseful music]
And the person going home today is...
♪ ♪
Paul.
We thank you for your contribution.
- Thank you. Thank you. - For your pieces.
We appreciate your design, your professionalism.
- Yeah. - Thank you.
- I'm completely in shock right now.
I thought it was me.
I felt all the emotions for him.
- I'm slightly disappointed that I got eliminated,
but I'm grateful,
and I was thanking God just for the opportunity.
I don't know what's on the other side of the door,
but I don't think my journey stops here.
- [weeping] - Exit?
- Yes, please, sir. - All right, thank you.
- Thanks, Paul. - All right, thank you.
Thank you so much, Paul.
- I got a journey still to keep going,
so I'm not gonna sit and sulk about it.
I'm so pleased,
and I'm confident to go back and to continue my craft.
So I enjoyed every minute of it.
- [sobbing]
[gentle music]
♪ ♪
- Thank you, guys. - I'm sorry.
It was tough this week. - Yeah.
- I appreciate your time. Thanks for being here.
I can't wait to see what you put up next week.
- Thank you. - See y'all.
- Thanks, guys.
♪ ♪
- [sobbing]
All this emotion comes from a place of, like, my empathy.
I don't even know Paul, like--but I do.
That's the weirdest thing. I do know him, he's me.
- I'm grateful to be alive and in this competition.
But it's really,
truly heartbreaking that Paul's going home.
- Win it for me. You promise?
- Yeah. For you, I promise.
[whimpers]
- Next time on "Ellen's Next Great Designer"...
- Hi. How y'all doing? both: Oh, my God.
- We would like to see what you will do
being inspired by different shapes.
all: Oh.
- I absolutely hate this shape.
♪ ♪
- Wow. - Oh, my God.
If this works, it's gonna be amazing.
- Oh! - Ohh!
- It could shatter into a million tiny pieces,
and then we would have nothing to work with.
- Ah! - Don't touch it.
- I'm not gonna-- - Move, move, move, move.
- If I don't get this fundamental part of my design,
I may as well just go home.
- Oh, my God, the whole chandelier
just snapped in half.
♪ ♪
- I've never seen anything like this.
- It's a statement.
- It feels like a rock and roll piece a little bit.
- Yes, please. - Yes.
- It's very tricky to take a shape
and not have it look cheesy.
- I don't love the color.
I mean, it's not a high-end, luxury item.
- Ugh!
- I think you tried a little too much.
Unfortunately, the person going home today is...
- Anyway.