Last updated: 28 October 2026
David Nott is a Boston-based textile artist who tufts bold, abstract designs in yarn, then carves them with scissors and razors into bright, sculpted pieces that ripple and spill past their own frames. Here you will find our take on his work, his best-known series and brand commissions, and how to buy or commission a David Nott piece.
Our take on David Nott
Nott films each piece as a time-lapse for Instagram and TikTok, from the first loop of yarn to the final trim. He builds his designs in stepped bands of colour, and the sculpting cuts each band to a different height, so the finished work has real depth rather than a flat pile.
He started out in dotwork, building black and white portraits from thousands of ink dots, and the tufting grew out of that. “Instead of a single dot, it’s a single piece of yarn,” he told My Modern Met. That precision is why we rate him: the curves are clean and the colour steps are exact.
His long-running Color Riddle series is the best place to start. “Color Riddle VI continues my ongoing exploration of color as both structure and illusion,” he told Artnet.
David Nott: the essentials
- Textile artist based in Boston, Massachusetts, who studied art and design at college, according to Homes & Interiors Scotland (October 2025).
- Began with dotwork, then moved into hand-tufted textiles around 2021 because he wanted to work in colour.
- Each piece starts as a design in Adobe Illustrator. He then shoots yarn through a large mesh canvas with a tufting gun, and finally trims and sculpts the pile with scissors and an electric razor.
- An average piece takes 50 to 80 hours, and the larger ones run past 100 hours and more than 35,000 yards of yarn.
- Series include Color Riddle, Brain Chemistry (which includes Dopamine, 68 hours and 41,000 feet of yarn) and Monochrome, a planned set of eight single-colour pieces.
- Commissions and collaborations include The North Face (Nuptse, after its puffer jacket), Dead & Company at Sphere Las Vegas (Rainbow Road), IWC Schaffhausen's Edinburgh store, Burberry and Louis Vuitton at Art Basel.
- Around 816,000 followers on Instagram as of October 2026, plus a large TikTok audience. He has no gallery representation that we can find.
Where to see David Nott's work
We can find no gallery exhibitions, past or upcoming, listed for David Nott. His work mostly lives in private and brand commissions, and on his social channels.
- On screen: Color Riddle VI (2026) is on the Artist Collaboration Shelf of LG Gallery+, the art service on LG televisions, so you can display it at home on an LG screen.
- In the UK: his commission for IWC Schaffhausen's Edinburgh boutique, a textile take on one of the brand's watch designs, is the one public piece in Britain we know of.
- Online: his own site shows his recent tufted works and his earlier dotwork portraits.
How to buy a David Nott piece
There are no David Nott prints, editions or books on sale. Every tufted work is a one-off, so buying one means an original or a commission:
- Upcoming pieces and commissions: through the inquiries and commissions form on his site, price on request. He works from Boston, so a UK buyer should expect international shipping, import VAT and duty on top.
- Lead time: at 50 to 100-plus hours of making per piece, a commission is a long wait rather than a quick order.
David Nott FAQs
Is this the surgeon David Nott?
No. This page is about David Nott the textile artist, who posts as @davidnott on Instagram. The war surgeon and author of the same name is a different person.
What is tufting?
Tufting pushes loops of yarn through a stretched backing cloth with a hand-held tufting gun. Nott then shears the pile to different heights, which gives his pieces their raised, carved look.
Can I buy a David Nott print?
Not at the moment. He sells original tufted pieces and takes commissions through the form on his website, price on request.
How long does a David Nott piece take?
Usually 50 to 80 hours, and over 100 hours for the most detailed works.
Where is David Nott based?
Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.
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Main image: David Nott with one of his tufted pieces. Photo courtesy of the artist, via davidnottdesign.com (photographer not named). Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition details, commissions and follower figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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