Odile is a flat packing stool made from ebonized white ash and beaver pelt. The stool is comprised of four parts: two pairs of legs, a circular seat, and an upholstered plywood seat panel. The three structural parts all lock into each other without any glue or hardware, and the final joinery is revealed in the shape of an X at the top of the seat. The fur panel is attached with velcro strips and can be easily taken on and off when the stool has to be oiled or cleaned. Using hand drawn Bézier splines and ellipses, an organic form was delineated to evoke spiraling, cartilaginous shapes in the auricular style. The design was further informed by the precision of the modern day machinery that would be used to carve the wood, with the intention of finding a contemporary balance to offset these baroque forms. The finished piece has also undergone a lengthy ebonizing process that uses iron acetate to react with tannins that naturally exist in the wood, resulting in a dark hue emerging from organic processes, similar to a patina, and allowing the grain to show through more than an additive finish like stain or lacquer would typically allow. The stool accordingly takes its name from Tchaikovsky’s 1876 ballet Swan Lake, where the white swan is transformed into a black swan -- similarly, this piece has been transformed from white to black, and Odette has become Odile.