Kiara Pelissier | Glass & Extended Media

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Kiara Pelissier is an artist who creates objects and installations in glass, fabric, and mixed media. She holds a BFA in Glass from the Cleveland Institute of Art and an MFA in Craft/Material Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts.

News

Schedule for 2008:

Richmond Home & Garden February 2008 Publication
“Art at Home” Article:
“Ones to Watch. Emerging local artists to collect before it's too late”
by Carrie Nieman Culpepper

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts
Glass 252 (Intro) Instructor
Spring Semester 2008

Reynolds Gallery
Group Glass Exhibition
Opening June 6, 2008

Biography

I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1976 to a South American father and North American mother. I was raised in the United States in a family of artists. My father is a goldsmith and ironsmith, my mother is a surface designer/textile artist, my grandfather was a painter, and both my grandmother and great grandmother were sculptors.

Although I worked with crafts throughout my school years, my concentrations were in music and gymnastics and I began my college years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in flute performance. Two years later, in 1996, I first visited the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina where I took a beginning glassblowing class. I was instantly hooked and, leaving music behind, I continued to study glassblowing through workshops at Penland, Pilchuck Glass School, Haystack Mountain School, and the Corning Studio as both a student and a teaching assistant.

In 1997 I was accepted to the Cleveland Institute of Art where I entered as a third year transfer student in a five-year undergraduate program. In the spring of 2000 I received my B.F.A. degree in Glass. After graduation, thirsty for some real life experience in the studio art world, I worked first as a part-time assistant for glass artist Marc Petrovic in Essex, Connecticut, and then full-time for glass artist Michael Schunke in West Grove, Pennsylvania. After three and a half years of incredible learning experiences working for others, I decided to focus on making my own work. I made plans to attend graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, in order to study with professor Jack Wax, with whom I studied at Penland at the beginning of my career. I received my M.F.A. degree in May of 2006 and currently live in Richmond, Virginia.

Résumé

Education

2006
Master of Fine Arts / Glass
Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts—Richmond, VA
2000
Bachelor of Fine Arts / Glass
Cleveland Institute of Art—Cleveland, OH
2005 / 2003 / 1999
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts—Deer Isle, ME
2002 / 1999
Corning Studio of Glass—Corning, NY
1995–2001
Penland School of Crafts—Penland, NC
1997
Pilchuck Glass School—Stanwood, WA

Employment

2008 / 2007 / 2004
Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts
  • Glass 251 (Intro) Instructor
  • Glass 351 (Intermediate) Instructor
2006
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
  • Glassblowing Instructor, Session 5
2006
Toyama City Institute of Glass Art—Toyama, Japan
  • Teaching Assistant for Jack Wax
2003
The 16th Niijima International Glass Art Festival—Niijima, Japan
  • Teaching Assistant for Brent Kee Young
2001–2003
Michael Schunke, Glassblower—West Grove, PA
  • Full-time Assistant
  • Part-time Assistant
2002
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
  • Teaching Assistant for Jack Wax
1998–2001
Marc Petrovic, Glass Sculptor—Essex, CT
  • Part-time Assistant
2001
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
  • Teaching Assistant for José Chardiet, New England Workshop
2000 / 2001
Pilchuck Glass School
2000–2001
Corning Studio of Glass
  • Teaching Assistant for William Gudenrath

Publications

2008
Richmond Home & Garden / February Issue
  • “Ones to Watch” by Carrie Nieman Culpepper
2007
Corning Museum of Glass—New Glass Review #27

Grants / Scholarships / Residencies

2007
Creative Glass Center of America at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center—Millville, NJ
  • 6-week Fellowship Residency
2003
Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA)—Cleveland, OH
  • 10-week Glass Residency
2003
Contemporary Glass Philadelphia Grant
1999–2000
Honorary Scholarship—CIA

Exhibitions / Shows

2007
The Museum of American Glass—Millville, NJ
  • “Celebrating Connections: Contemporary Glass by Mid-Atlantic Artists”
2007
Quirk Gallery—Richmond, VA
  • “Master Quirks VA 2007”
2007
Quirk Gallery—Richmond, VA
  • “Pleasant Under Glass Terrarium Exhibition”
2007
Wheaton Arts Fine Art Gallery
  • “2007 CGCA Fellowship Recipient Exhibition”
2007
Art6 Gallery—Richmond, VA
  • “Undone” Exhibition—Joint show with ceramicist Debbie Quick
2007
Baltimore American Craft Council Show—Baltimore, MD
  • Recipient of the Searchlight Artist Award
2006
Reynolds Gallery—Richmond, VA
  • “Almost Famous” Exhibition
2006
Capital One, West Creek Campus—Richmond, VA
  • “Select Works | Exhibition of VCU MFA Candidates”
  • Exhibition Curator
2006
Claremont Graduate University Gallery—Claremont, CA
  • “W/E Trade” Exhibition
2005
Quirk Gallery—Richmond, VA
  • “Watt’s Up?” Inaugural Exhibition
2004
Flat International Gallery—Richmond, VA
  • Solo MFA Candidacy Show
2004
F.A.B. Gallery, VCU School of the Arts—Richmond, VA
  • “Introspection”, Juried Craft Exhibition
2003
Sandusky Cultural Center—Sandusky, OH
  • “New Glass” Exhibition
2003
Winterpark Sidewalk Art Festival—Winterpark, FL
  • Emerging Artists Program
2001 / 2000
B.K. Smith Gallery, Lake Erie College—Painesville, OH
  • “48 Hours of Making Art”
  • “Recent Regional BFA Exhibition”

Collections

Galleries
  • Reynolds Gallery—Richmond, VA
  • Quirk Gallery—Richmond, VA
Private Collections
  • Bev Reynolds—Richmond, VA
  • Allan Kirshner—Richmond, VA
  • Jil & Hiter Harris—Richmond, VA
  • Justin & Tanya French—Richmond, VA
  • Terrel & Elliot Harrigan—Richmond, VA
  • Capital One, West Creek Campus—Richmond, VA
  • Diane Dalto & Richard Woosnam—Philadelphia, PA

Printable Résumé (requires Adobe Reader)

Artist Statement

In the moments when we prevail, we soar and float as though weightless and timeless. As a gymnast I learned that control of one's insecurities results in a powerful and balanced presence of body. Give into them and the body becomes uncertain and clumsy. Rarely is life this transparent. Many forms of tension manifest themselves in physical, spiritual, and emotional unrest. How does the physical contour of the skin reflect the soul of a material body? With the aid of transparency, translucency, and opacity I alter the perception of surface, form, internal and external space. My work is a comment on the flux of my emotions and attitude towards daily life. This includes moments clouded by insecurity, restlessness, and fatigue as well as the moments in which we free ourselves.

For pricing, commission requests, or questions contact Kiara at k@KiaraPelissierGlass.com.