Michael Coffey: Sculptor and Furniture Maker in Wood unsettles the conventional distinction between craftsman and artist, which is often assumed to be the difference between creating something new, as opposed to reproducing old forms. Inspired by but not beholden to artist-craftsmen such as George Nakashima, Wendell Castle, and Jack Rogers Hopkins, Coffey’s handmade, one-of-a-kind works seamlessly combine the irregular forms of nature, an aesthetic built on the variable and unexpected, with a deep sense for the haptic and functional qualities of wood. This book includes not only a generous reproduction of Coffey’s body of work, but also an in-depth autobiographical reflection on how his formative experiences, from his rural and bohemian childhood to community organizing, and to the discovery of his passion for woodworking, molded him into the sculptor and artisan he is today.Born and raised in New York, MICHAEL COFFEY began his professional life as a social worker, but by 1972 he was pursuing artmaking full-time. Influenced by the European Art Nouveau and 20th-century craftsman studio furniture, in 1978 he produced and presented the Aphrodite Rocking Chair, a majestic curved piece of wood, which solidified his reputation among the new generation of American furniture makers. Coffey continues to work in his home studio in West Hatfield, Massachusetts. This is his first book.