Fernando Mastrangelo is a Brooklyn-based contemporary artist. He received his M.F.A. in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA (2004), his B.F.A. from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle (2002) and attended the Pilchuck Glass School (2001). Mastrangelo became notable in the press for his use of controversial materials as in the case of "Felix", a sculpture made from cocaine and "La Salvamara", a series using the cremated ashes from the MS 13 Gang. In 2010, he gave a Ted Talk on the nature of art in the era of social networking, detailing the creative process behind "Al One" his collaboration with Napster founder Shawn Fanning. Mastrangelo is the founder of a design firm, MMATERIAL that runs out of his Brooklyn studio. Fernando Mastrangelo has been using unique casting materials (salt, sugar, sand, coffee, corn) as part of his sculpture practice for over a decade. In his new line of sculpture furniture, he re-contextualizes form and function once again, bringing together indoor and outdoor materials that fuse his minimalist aesthetic with deft ingenuity and craft.