Shayna Leib is a glass artist with more than 14 years experience in the field to-date. Her sculptural studies reflect an attention to detail indicative of the two major influences on her life- music and philosophy. Trained as a concert pianist, she sees music as a metaphor for her work. The part-to-whole nature of music, and the bringing together of isolated individual lines of melody to be woven into a greater composition can be seen in her sculptural landscapes. Focused areas of movement, switchbacks of glass cane, and slow buildups of motion all come together to form a greater composition in her work. For many years Shayna focused on creating functional glasswork, often playing with glass’ ability to manipulate optics through the mirroring and sandblasting of thick blown pieces in her Mirrored series. Mid-graduate school, she transitioned into a focus on canework and sculptural landscapes, for which she has become known. The time-consuming nature and almost obsessive attention to detail inherent to her canework in the Wind & Water series have created an artistic vision new to the glass scene. All works from the series span three aspects of glassworking, from the generation of parts in the hotshop, to kiln slumping, to the final coldworking and assembly of the sculpture. Shayna Leib has taught at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, CA. and the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she currently resides making one-of-a-kind glass sculpture selling across the United States. "When I was seven years old, I saw glassblowing for the first time at a local university. I haven’t been the same since. I began my study of glass as an undergraduate at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA where I received a BA in philosophy and minors in glass and literature. Accepted to pursue PHD work in philosophy in New York, I chose instead to study glass and moved to Madison, Wisconsin where I completed my MFA degree in May of 2003. I use glass, not for its mimetic quality to capture the look of stone or plastic, but for its most unique properties: the ability to flow, the capacity to freeze a moment in time, and its inherent manipulation of optics." --- EDUCATION: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME 2007 * Studied with Boyd Sugiki University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI * MFA, Glass and Sculpture 2003 Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC 2002 * Studied with Ché Rhodes California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, CA * BA, Philosophy 1998 * Minor in Glass 1998 * Minor in Literature 1998 RESEARCH & TEACHING EXPERIENCE 2005 Department of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison Adjunct Faculty in Glass 2005 Department of Art, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA Lecturer in Sculpture & Drawing 2003-2004 Ronald Pearson Design Studios, Deer Isle, ME Goldsmith/Silversmith * Production of the late Mr. Pearson's designs * Forging, fabrication, stone setting, and casting of fine metals 2000-2003 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Teaching assistant for the Glass Program * Provided teaching assistance for glassblowing, casting, and fusing classes * Built two 400 pound day tanks, two glassblowing benches * Rebuilt Glory Hole doors, annealers, sandblaster, maintained coldshop equipment * Planned UW Glass Symposium 2000, UW Outdoor Neon and Light Exhibition 2002, 3 glass fundraisers * Created Official UW Glass Handbook and Safety Lecture 1999 California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, CA * Provided teaching support for glassblowing beginners The Wind & Water Series Two of the most powerful elements on our planet are nearly indiscernible to the human eye, yet we are innately aware of their presence, their capacity to soothe and destroy, and their ability to weave patterns where they touch. Wind and water possess no intrinsic color, are clear to the point of invisibility, and yet move through space. We see not their form itself, but can detect their patterns and shapes only vicariously though the objects they effect. The trace of water’s touch over moss and sea life, the wind’s passage over marshlands, through wheat fields and the fur of a long-haired animal- these two forces make their presence known. Their character is contradictory and fickle, encompassing fragility and violence, placidity and turbulence. They leave their mark upon us and our external world. The Wind & Water series was created to explore their influence through sculptural glass landscape.