Brandon Williams is an accomplished metal artist based out of Phoenix, Arizona but his journey as an artist traces back to the north side of Chicago where his love of metalworking was born. After attending a welding class, Brandon was left exhilarated and inspired. “I had been making small interior home accessories for 6 years and had just lost my passion as an artist. So while the business was successful, it became a never ending, mindless repetition.”

With this passion for metalwork, Brandon took a rundown warehouse space in Wicker Park, Chicago and founded a steel studio. Here, Brandon was able to hone his craft and turn concepts into objects. Not only was this home to the creation of his art, but he graciously shared the space with other steel artists, creating somewhat of a steel artist community. Being able to cultivate relationships with fellow metal artists turned out to be a critical step in the birth of Modfire. Current partner Marty Young and Modfire’s current West Coast Sales Director David Dorn Weesner were amongst the community of steel artists in Brandon’s studio.

David and Marty grew up together in a small town in Indiana where both fathers were contractors. They spent their early childhoods picking up nails, filling drywall cracks and eventually building houses.

Referencing these past experiences, their earlier company, Stēl Objekt, developed. That early company focused on custom, upscale, one-of-a-kind installations for restaurants, businesses, and residential loft spaces in North Chicago. Most of these early projects involved Brandon spending time in the individual spaces and designing objects that complemented the architecture and lifestyle. It was an excellent lesson in melding the softness of space and light to balance the heaviness of the steel.

After one too many cold winters in the unheated Chicago studio, warmer weather enticed Brandon’s move to Arizona, Marty to Florida, and David to Los Angeles.

For Brandon, the change of scenery inspired a change in design aesthetic. Industrial lofts were replaced by 50s ranch houses. Stark spaces with bold accents were replaced by the smooth organic shapes of mid-century modern. And the Stel Objekt designs adapted, became more subtle, more nuanced.

In this desert landscape, the concept of Modfire was born. But to take Modfire from concept to operating business, Brandon made calls out to Marty Young and David Dorn Weesner to help put the pieces together. Two months after making those calls, Modfire LLC was born.

The road that Brandon traveled as an artist to arrive where he is today was not an easy one. In many ways it parallels his outlook toward his craft:

“Simply put, it’s difficult work, but this is what we do to make beautiful, compelling pieces…Weld, grind, sweat, repeat, I realize metalwork isn’t for everyone, but I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and my clients are thrilled with the end result.”

Brandon on his artistic process:

“I have a soft spot for beautiful things. I love order. Clean lines and great design compel me. I create with a minimalist perspective that has been shaped by years of distillation. The most useful lesson of my life was learning how to simplify. My execution, however, is always the opposite: thunderous, messy and highly charged. A cacophony of sounds and implements of creation being put to hard use. The howl of a grinder and sparks of steel start to fly. Talk about satisfying… It‘s that strange juxtaposition I find so interesting in what I do as an artist.”

“At the drawing table I’m a designer with great ideas and grand concepts that speak to me and fulfill my need to bring beauty onto this earth. But, when I’m in the shop, I’m a craftsman with metal in every pore of my being and the guy who regularly gets mistaken for homeless and offered change or a hot meal (true story).”