Saturday, March 12, 2016
5-10pm
Don’t miss the opening of “Cut Up”, and exhibit of glass works by acclaimed glass artists and educators, John Miller from Illinois and Paul J. Nelson from Kentucky .
John and Paul will demonstrate their glassblowing techniques beginning at 6pm, followed by a free Jazz concert by the Henry Ashwood Jazz Project from 8-10pm.
John Miller began working with glass in 1987 in the undergraduate program at Southern Connecticut State University, (SCSU) in New Haven, Connecticut. A decade later he earned an MFA in Sculpture at the
University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. From 1993 to the present, he has been a staff member at Pilchuck Glass School in many different capacities, as a technician, coordinator, gaffer and instructor. Miller exhibits internationally and frequently tours the country lecturing and demonstrating with hot glass.
Miller has work in permanent collections across the country and internationally: Glazen Huis, Lommel, Belguim, Museum of Arts and Design, NY; Chysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; Mobile Museum of Art, Tacoma Museum of Glass, Pilchuck Glass School, and the Museum of American Glass, Millville, NJ. Miller has been featured in Glass Magazine, American Craft, Glass Quarterly, and Vetro Magazine.
John is currently an Assocaite Professor of glass at Illinois State University.
Paul J. Nelson has been working as an independent artist in glass and other media for over 20 years. Paul received his B.A. In Studio Art and World Religion in 1992 from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Having finished his M.F.A. in Sculpture at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1997, Paul moved to Louisville, Kentucky to continue his professional career.
Much of Paul’s current work focuses on portraiture, narrative, and a sort of re-contextualization of the sculpted subject, via their cultural and historical contributions to society. Often these characterizations juxtapose brooding dark comedy, epic fantasy, and a quest for depth in meaning. The use of thick cast glass in Paul’s sculpture allows the element of light to enhance this purpose.
Nelson works with internationally acclaimed artists such as Stephen Rolfe Powell, whose class at Centre College in Danville KY Paul oversees in Powell’s absence.
Paul Nelson’s work has been viewed nationwide in gallery, museum, and event-based exhibitions.