Casey McMains Glass Jericho VT & Louisville KY

I was always exploring various media throughout my childhood. Everything from drawing and painting to jewelry fabrication. I have been working with glass since the spring of 1996. It began when I was attending college in England for metalsmithing when I first discovered glass as an artistic medium. I had never thought of glass before that point. Upon my return to America, I apprenticed in glassblowing while attending Burlington College in Burlington, Vermont. For the past seven years, I have been focusing on perfecting my skills, working at the Ziemke Glassblowing Studio in Waterbury Center, through repetition and practice, in essence practicing the craft of glassblowing. My influences are varied and continually expanding. Currently, I am fascinated with the dichotomy of weapons and armor made of glass. Items that are symbols of strength, protection, and dominance created in a medium that is commonly thought of as fluid and fragile. For me, these two concepts represent two very different ends of society—glass is symbolic of culture and of domesticity, while weapons are the use of force used in the domination of one society over others. Another theme I return to often is the symbolic nature of color and light. Throughout history, colors have been used to symbolize a wide variety of meanings, from passion to purity. For me, glass is one of the best ways to experience light as it can be transparent, opaque, or somewhere in between. Plus, it is a medium that has been one of the most influential in creating the world we live in today. Just imagine what this world would be like with no reading glasses, telescopes, windows or mirrors, and the list goes on and on.