Collection: Tom Wessells

Wood

Newport News, VA | Exhibiting Since 1997

I have considered art furniture to be unnecessary if all one seeks is a place to sit, eat or lie down. One buys art furniture because it adds more than pure function to their environment. Building on this notion, some years ago I attempted to develop a series of pieces with elements that drew on Jungian or spiritual themes such as a balance in life, transcendence and self-awareness. I called this series Secular Icons. I was fortunate at the time to receive a grant from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts that enabled me to build most of the pieces and show them in a number of venues. Since then, my work has taken numerous paths, but the influence of secular icons always lurks in the background.