Jeremy Sinkus

Jeremy Sinkus artist statement

Glassmaking is the human expression of a geological process. In fact, glass is geological. Minerals have always captivated me with their color, clarity, and infinite geometric permutations. Of all the images, objects and art I have seen, still it is these natural crystalline forms that strike me. They express something enormous that is otherwise, almost impossible to voice. Akin to the felt language underlying a resonant piece of art, minerals speak precisely of their making. They require no interpretation. I am fascinated by the sheer fact of their existence and circumstantial nature of their variety. Every formation the terroir of its origin. Human participation was absent but nonetheless, I wanted to be part of it.

The opportunity to experiment with hot glass came in 1998 at a studio in central Massachusetts. The roaring furnaces, smell of burning bees wax and graceful movements impacted me. I admired the team aspect of a glass blowing studio but needed a more independent approach to satisfy my ambition. Flame working borosilicate glass was an obtainable approach into working with glass on my own. It was a life-changing technique. A body of work was created to bring me through the steps and stages to grow into a professional working artist.

In 2016 I started making cast glass. This allowed me to apply techniques to make more authentic mineral designs. This method would give me the ability to sculpt, involve more precision and increase the scale of my designs. The use of familiar tools and techniques for working stone from my gem cutting years connects me even more to glass sculpting. These tools allow me to venture into the deep process and experience of what made the mineral world so appealing to me creatively. Cast glass has taught me patience and channels a version of a 100,000,000 year geological process. This body of work gives me human participation in an form that would otherwise only be a geological event. My geological designs have reconnected me to the gem and mineral world. There, though realistic, they are seen as art. In the art world they are seen as contemporary.

I now work out of my own 2400 square foot studio in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. It is entirely powered by a waterfall on the nearby Deerfield River functioning as a green energy studio. I use flame working, metal fuming/deposition, cold working (lapidary), welding, woodworking, laminating and casting techniques to manipulate the glass daily. I continue looking forward to digging up new prospective ideas to geologicalize in glass.