My art is a poetic exploration of my ideas…an extension of my inner self, allowing me to express myself in ways I can’t easily articulate. I went through a drastic change in what I thought was my path, before finding glass. I seek to express that need to be true to self, through my work.
My signature is a technique I developed for weaving glass, which allows me to create large scale sculptures by melting glass in the flame at a table top torch. I built upon this idea, and have personally developed many of the techniques used to create my intricate, lampworked glass sculptures. This process of weaving, and making components, can take up to 3-4 months, for a large scale piece. I often combine flameworked glass with pate de verre, in a casting process I learned from the Higuchis. By working with colored glass powders and frits, I use a painstaking process of layering color, to create a cast leaf or nest. I have since pioneered an approach for casting and attaching pate de verre components to my lampworked glass sculpture. I also create much of the subtle color in my work through a process of blending and mixing color, and pulling cane… much like a painter would on a palette. In fact, I view the flameworking and pate de verre process as being very similar to painting. My unique use of color and careful, yet gestural sculptures are a symphonic exploration that continues to lead me in new directions. It is this exploration, and the freedom therein, that drives my desire to create.
Technique merges with narratives in my work, to express metaphorical bridges between nature and human beings. Through the delicate, glass nests, flowers, branches, and leaves in each piece, I seek to depict the cycle of life: growth, discovery, change, and renewal. Inspired by the storytelling tradition of woven tapestry and basketry, I see myself weaving with glass to connect the viewer to the story of the natural world. I bring glass to life, using its fluidity and fragility to express the beauty, vulnerability, peacefulness and decay found in nature's story. In pieces like "Choice", "Renewal", and "Becoming", I consider the tension between inner strength versus timing and circumstance, and their impact on choice and personal growth. My eggs, buds, and flowers are key elements that evoke this notion of rebirth, becoming, and transformation of self.
