Biography
Steven Ciezki’s artistic journey is represented by twenty-three years of drawing and eleven years of glassblowing, painting, and photography. He received his BFA in glass at Illinois State University in 2012. Glass has taken Steven to all corners of the country as a student, teacher, and professional glass artist. Teaching opportunities in Arizona inspired him to write and illustrate a glassblowing technique book called “Life on the Rails”. The title describes both his nomadic lifestyle as well as the rails at the bench where hot glass is shaped by hand.
Artist Statements
Speaker Towers / Air Sirens
I grew up in the southern suburbs of Chicago. There weren't tall buildings in my home town, but Chicago was just a quick drive north. In 2014, opportunity allowed and encouraged travel. For periods of time, I experienced cities in the US, Bosnia, Turkey, Belgium, Australia, and Japan. New environments are influential.
This series explores speakers on towers, similar to loudspeakers on a minaret or an air siren. The “tower” is my playground for size, shape, and proportion. Coinciding with design, the Speaker Towers have an authoritative quality, similar to a Big Brother society. I think of them as micro-managers. They possess an over the shoulder feeling that holds a strong presence. They represent someone who only speaks and does not listen, someone who only projects and does not receive.
I grew up in the southern suburbs of Chicago. There weren't tall buildings in my home town, but Chicago was just a quick drive north. In 2014, opportunity allowed and encouraged travel. For periods of time, I experienced cities in the US, Bosnia, Turkey, Belgium, Australia, and Japan. New environments are influential.
This series explores speakers on towers, similar to loudspeakers on a minaret or an air siren. The “tower” is my playground for size, shape, and proportion. Coinciding with design, the Speaker Towers have an authoritative quality, similar to a Big Brother society. I think of them as micro-managers. They possess an over the shoulder feeling that holds a strong presence. They represent someone who only speaks and does not listen, someone who only projects and does not receive.
Sweet Spot
This work explores memorialized scenes from my environment. I utilize three-dimensional pattern and colored glass as representational components in ‘forced perspective’ oil paintings. The selected imagery involves a prevalent light source, depth, and layers.
In our environment, when objects line up in multiple planes of space, they compete with each other for spatial attention. Distance flattens and reality gets warped. I take inspiration from these Sweet Spots and glorify a memory with the numerous properties of glass.
This work explores memorialized scenes from my environment. I utilize three-dimensional pattern and colored glass as representational components in ‘forced perspective’ oil paintings. The selected imagery involves a prevalent light source, depth, and layers.
In our environment, when objects line up in multiple planes of space, they compete with each other for spatial attention. Distance flattens and reality gets warped. I take inspiration from these Sweet Spots and glorify a memory with the numerous properties of glass.
Stacks
This technical body of work investigates proportional beauty in size, shape, and verticality. I pull inspiration from historical and contemporary goblet stems, architecture, and the world around me. They are commonly grouped in twos or threes. Each Stack shares a bond with the others through design themes such as color, shape, and pattern. They are a playground for technical refinement.
The progression of this series has enhanced my understanding of how glass heats, moves, cools, and breaks. As a result, I have become more aware of my decisions in the hotshop about temperature, gravity, air pressure, viewpoint, and body movement.
This technical body of work investigates proportional beauty in size, shape, and verticality. I pull inspiration from historical and contemporary goblet stems, architecture, and the world around me. They are commonly grouped in twos or threes. Each Stack shares a bond with the others through design themes such as color, shape, and pattern. They are a playground for technical refinement.
The progression of this series has enhanced my understanding of how glass heats, moves, cools, and breaks. As a result, I have become more aware of my decisions in the hotshop about temperature, gravity, air pressure, viewpoint, and body movement.
© 2018 Steven Ciezki Glass
