Exhibit at Craft Center features ‘functional sculpture’
“Static,” a collection of one-of-a-kind furniture and custom tableware and hollowware, is on display at Tennessee Tech University’s Appalachian Center for Craft through Feb. 18.
Brian Ferrell’s functional sculpture utilizes a mix of exotic and domestic woods often enhanced with steel cable. His tableware, consisting of pewter and wood, continues to explore materials and functional design. Ferrell creates sculpturally functional objects that can be held in the hand as well as objects that hold or support.
“My work blends asymmetrical geometry, basic shapes, and gradual shifts in composition,” explained Ferrell. “These pieces rely on subtlety, as lines and shapes intersect through careful transitions of form. The interplay of curves, contoured edges, and tapers creates an uncluttered composition, sculptural yet inspired by the function of the object’s purpose.”
Ferrell began his career with an education in metals and jewelry, and later began working with wood. Ferrell received his master’s of fine arts from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and his bachelor’s of fine arts in metals/jewelry from the University of Indiana of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Penn.
The artist will give a lecture about his work at the Appalachian Center for Craft at 5 p.m. Feb. 17. The lecture will begin with a presentation in the Craft Center’s audio/visual room located on the lower level of the main building. The gallery talk will follow in Gallery Two.
The Ferrell exhibition at TTU’s Craft Center will be visited and reviewed by renowned national craft magazine, American Craft.
The Appalachian Center for Craft is conveniently located approximately six miles from Interstate 40 at Exit 273 (Smithville/McMinnville). Go south on Highway 56; turn left immediately after crossing Hurricane Bridge. This drive leads to the Craft Center.
For more information call (615) 597-6801 or (931) 372-3051 or visit www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/.
