Brad Sells

Brad Sells learned how to throw clay at the Appalachian Center for Crafts, a satellite campus of Tennessee Technical University, where he received his BS in psychology. He eventually found his medium of choice after carving a bed frame out of cherry wood for his home. He met his role model, expert furniture craftsman Sam Maloof, when his piece was chosen Best in Show in a competition Maloof helped jury. Sells traveled to South Africa in 2007 and to Hawaii in 2009 in search of exotic woods to expand his material palette and to gain inspiration from the respective regions. Sells follows the grain and texture of the wood as he works, creating undulating sculptural forms that highlight the unique knots and contours of each piece.

Text © Smithsonian American Art Museum