Thomas Campbell is a studio artist and fifth-generation steelworker living and working in Asheville, NC. Following his graduation from Hendrix College (Conway, AR), he worked as an industrial steel fabricator at Bemberg Iron Works, his family’s 136-year-old steel fabrication business. Campbell was awarded a two-year fellowship at Penland School of Craft (Bakersville, NC) in 2016 and was named an Early Career Artist in 2018 by The Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG). Campbell has taught at Penland School of Craft and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (Deer Isle, ME). In 2018, he was a resident at Haystack’s Open Studio Residency. His work has been shown at the Metal Museum (Memphis, TN), Blue Spiral 1 (Asheville, NC), Signature Gallery, (Atlanta, GA), and the MINT Museum (Charlotte, NC). His pieces are held in private collections and the permanent collection of the University of Arkansas (Little Rock, AR). 

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Campbell’s artistic practice is informed and inspired by the seven years he spent working at Bemberg Iron Works. Through his work, Campbell seeks to honor his familial traditions by drawing on the technical skills, industrial aesthetic, and processes that have driven functional steel fabrication for decades. His devotion to detail, a thoroughly developed understanding of material, and an eagerness to push boundaries in both form and function bring precision and presence to his art. 

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image: Thomas Campbell, Sequence, 2022. Blackened steel. Artwork courtesy of the Artist. Photo courtesy of Steve Mann. 

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