Amber Cowan is a talented American sculptor who expresses herself using glassworks to create natural dream-like forms of sublime surrealism. She has been working with glass for over fifteen years and received both her MFA in Glass/Ceramics from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and her BFA in 3-Dimensional Design with focus in Glass from Salisbury University.
“Butterflies Feeding in Thorny Vines” (2018). Photo: ©Amber Cowan
“Butterflies Feeding in Thorny Vines”‘s Detail. Photo: ©Amber Cowan
She is currently working with a process which involves flameworking, blowing, and hot-sculpting recycled, up-cycled, and second-life glass, usually American pressed glass from the 1940’s to the 1980’s. The glass used is generally found in thrift stores, flea markets and post-production factory runs, places where it was abandoned and left to vanish in dust. Amber transforms this forgotten glass pieces, reviving them, making them blossom again in contemporary design wonders. The detail in her artworks is truly mesmerizing.
“Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose” (2018). Photo: ©Amber Cowan
“Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose”‘s Detail. Photo: ©Amber Cowan
Glassworks: “Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose”‘s Detail. Photo: ©Amber Cowan
Glassworks: “Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose”‘s Detail. Photo: ©Amber Cowan
She is not only an amazing artist capable of creating breathtaking glass sculptures, but also an educator living in Philadelphia. She is a faculty member of the glass department of Tyler School of Art, where she received her MFA in 2011. She taught at several schools around the country, including The Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts and The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass.
Glassworks: “Peach Blow Away” (2012). Photo: ©Amber Cowan
Glassworks: “Grotto of the Chocolate Nymph” (2018). Photo: ©Amber Cowan
Cowan was the receiver of the 2014 Rakow Commission from The Corning Museum of Glass and her work is in the collections of The RISD Museum and The Shanghai Museum of Glass. Her solo exhibitions at Heller Gallery in New York and The Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco were also huge marks on her career.
Glassworks: “Wedding Compote in Colony Harvest” (2012). Photo: ©Amber Cowan
See More Related Stories
The Best of Glass Sculpture and Lampworking Art: Lilla Tabasso
