Joseph Sheehan
’17 Furniture Design
As an artist and a craftsman, I work hard to develop pieces that speak to both other craftspeople and the general public alike. As a young child, I was always making things; this love slowly transitioned into a love of making things out of wood specifically. While I do experiment with other materials, I am usually led back to wood, largely because of the variation in species, and technical possibilities and challenges of the material. A large part of my process involves researching and experimenting with new and obscure techniques. I enjoy pushing the envelope in the construction of my furniture, and in design more broadly.
Most of my work starts as small sketches or ideas, which I then refine and into loose design through more sketching and small models. My recent pieces have incorporated many bent laminations, a technique that opens a lot of possibilities.
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Joe Sheehan is a woodworker, designer, and craftsman in the greater Boston area. Joe completed MassArt’s Furniture Design Certificate program in 2017 while apprenticing with an architectural millwright. He has shown furniture in galleries and shows across Boston. He has also worked on architectural woodworking projects in Boston’s many historic neighborhoods for nearly a decade. Joe is also a faculty member in the MassArt Woodshop and the MassArt Architecture Department.
