The influence of the Obamas was worldwide. Both Barack and Michelle despite being clearly exceptional individuals shared stories of objectification and othering based on race. As occupants of that most powerful house the white house I thought it would be interesting to portrait them in terms of furniture. It only made sense to me to portrait them together not because they are not individuals in their own right but because their relationship seemed so central to their dynamism. The dynamism of Mid-century office chairs seemed to fit they were both of us and so above us and the idea of the rocket is so American in so many ways the chair is at once known and yet the rocket is gravity-defying otherworldly, these rocket chairs hold feet/hands and angle towards each other. During their office I had the sense any day might be the last day, I felt they were precarious in the dizzying height they had attained, which is another reason why this work is so tall. Michelle shared that the leitmotif of her family was "if they go low we go high".