Joshua Diatte (b. 1996) is a self-taught furniture maker and sculptor building heirloom rocking chairs inspired by the work of Sam Maloof. He began working sculpturally in 2010, and as a teenager his work earned a regional Gold Key in the Scholastic Art Writing Awards, representing the Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky region and advancing to national judging. Not long after, he discovered the work of Sam Maloof through reading, along with that of Windsor chairmaker Hal Taylor—both became virtual mentors who guided him from sculpture into building furniture by 2012.

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In the years since, Diatte has developed his joinery, bent-lamination, and finishing techniques entirely through hands-on practice in the shop. By day, he works as a dentist—a practice that has sharpened the precision, material science, understanding of adhesive resins, trained his eye to notice grain, tension, and tolerance that others might overlook. His chairs are built from rare and exotic woods sourced from around the world.