Amber Cowan

Amber Cowan (born 1981) is an American artist[1] and educator living and working in Philadelphia. Cowan creates fused and flameworked glass sculptures from cullet and recycled industrial glass.[2]

Amber Cowan
Amber Cowan
Born1981 (age 38–39)
NationalityAmerican
EducationSalisbury University, Tyler School of Art
Known forGlass
AwardsInternational Procter Fellowship
2012 The Toledo Workshop Revisited – Australian National University
Rakow Commission
2014 Garden of the Forgotten and Extinct – Corning Museum of Glass
Websiteambercowan.com

Career

Cowan received her BFA in 3-Dimensional Design with an emphasis on Hot Glass from Salisbury University in 2004.[3] She was the first woman to graduate from Salisbury University with this specific degree.[4]

She is currently a faculty member of the glass department at the Tyler School of Art where she graduated with her MFA in Glass/Ceramics in 2011.[3]

She was a studio assistant for Thaddeus Wolfe and Andrew Hughes from 2005 to 2008.[3] From 2008 to 2010 she was a visiting artist at Maho Bay's Recycled Glass Center in St. John, Virgin Islands.[3] Cowan has also taught at Pilchuck Glass School, the Penland School of Crafts, and The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass.[5]

During her time at the Pilchuck Glass School Cowan participated in their 2016 summer arts program. She taught an intermediate/advanced-level course, titled Collaborative Currents.[6] Cowan taught this class with Snic Barnes⎯⎯another sculptor who began his sculpting career with glass as a medium and then progressed into other mixed-media materials⎯⎯focusing on flameworking and electroforming, with flameworking being Cowan's specialty.[6]

Cowan's work is included in the collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, and the Shanghai Museum of Glass. She has been featured many times at the Heller Gallery in New York City, and the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco.[5]

Awards

In 2012, Cowan was the recipient of The Stephen Procter Fellowship from the Australian National University.[7] This fellowship was created to help Australian, and international, artists broaden the scope of their education in working with glass by presenting opportunities to these recipients to study abroad.[7] Because of this fellowship, Cowan was able to undertake a two-month residency in an esteemed glass workshop at the Australian National University in Canberra.[7] Also in 2012 Cowan received The Tyler Alumni Award of Excellence during The Philadelphia Fibers Biennial.[4]

In 2014, Cowan was awarded the 29th Rakow Commission for her work, Garden of the Forgotten and Extinct.[8] The Commission is traditionally awarded to professional artists, from the United States and abroad, whose work is not currently represented in The Corning Museum of Glass' permanent collection.[9]

Selected works
  • Basket (2012), New Glass Review 33[10]
  • Whole Milk Wash Basin in Colony Harvest (2013), Rhode Island School of Design Museum[11] 3
  • Rosaline (2) (2013), Shanghai Museum of Glass[12]
  • Garden of the Forgotten and Extinct (2014), Corning Museum of Glass[13]
  • Wedding Compote in Colony Harvest and Rosette in Milk and Ivory (2014), New Glass Review 35[14]
  • Garden of the Forgotten and Extinct (2015), New Glass Review 36[15]
  • The Fine Tint (2017), O: The Oprah Magazine[16]
  • Grotto of the Chocolate Nymph (2018), Toledo Museum of Art[17]

Selected Exhibitions
  • 2018 - A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass, Boise Art Museum.[18]
  • 2018 - The Bleak and The Burgeoning, Walton Arts Center.[19]
  • 2017 - Re|Collection, Fuller Craft Museum.[20]
  • 2016 - Hush, Philadelphia Art Alliance.[21]
  • 2015 - COLOURS, Group ExhibitionThe Hempel Glass Museum in Denmark.[4][22]
  • 2015 - Chroma Revival, Heller Gallery NY.[23] This exhibition was a solo exhibition.[3]
  • 2015 - Steuben and Glass Candlestick Exhibition at the Wichita Art Museum in Kansas.[4]
  • 2014 - Second Life Glass solo exhibition at The Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, CA.[4]
  • 2014 - Art Miami exhibition which was represented by Heller Gallery.[4]
  • 2014 - SOFA Chicago exhibition which was represented by Heller Gallery.[4]
  • 2014 - Contemporary Glass 21st Century Innovation exhibition at The New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, Connecticut.[4]
  • 2014 - Flora: A Celebration of Flowers in Contemporary Art, at The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center in Brattleboro, Vermont.[4]
  • 2014 - International Glass Exhibition: Breathing Through Transparency, at The China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China.[4]
  • 2014 - Art Southampton exhibition which was represented by Heller Gallery in Hamptons, NY.[4]
  • 2014 - A Group Exhibition at The Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont.[4]
  • 2013 - SOFA Chicago exhibition which was represented by Heller Gallery.[4]
  • 2013 - Solo exhibition: Reconstructions, represented by Heller Gallery in NY.[4]
  • 2013 - New Visions exhibition at the Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia, PA.[4]
  • 2013 - GlassWeekend exhibition in Millville, NJ represented by Heller Gallery.[4]
  • 2012 - SOFA Chicago exhibition which was represented by Heller Gallery.[4]
  • 2012 - Inside/Out exhibition hosted at The Philadelphia Fibers Biennial.[4]
  • 2012 - The Secret Life of Sand: An Artist Invitational at The Hatchory located in Philadelphia, PA.[4]
  • 2011 - Solo Exhibition: Peak and Valley, in the Temple Gallery at the Tyler School of Art for the MFA Thesis Exhibition.[4]
  • 2011 - Exhibition at Rosemont College: Philadelphia Women Working in Glass.[4]
  • 2011 - Exhibition at Hunter College in the Times Square Gallery, titled Vagabondage.[4]
  • 2010 - Exhibition Zodiak Down at the Little Berlin Gallery in Philadelphia, PA.[4]
  • 2009 - Exhibition Glas Under Glass at The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts in Loveladies, NJ.[4]
  • 2008 - The Artists of Urban Glass exhibition at The Robert Lehman Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.[4]
  • 2008 - The Instructors of Urban Glass exhibition at Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY.[4]

Installations

Along with the growing number of exhibitions Amber Cowan has been a part of, she has also been given opportunities to install some of her sculpture pieces in public spaces.

In 2014, Cowan was invited on two separate occasions to install her sculpture work in The Philadelphia International Airport.[4]

Technique

Amber Cowan mainly works with discarded glass pieces, repurposing the glass left behind from multiple 20th century American Glass Factories who shut their doors and left many remnants of production behind.[24] A technique that is essential to her is flame working, which is the manipulation of various rods and tubes of glass that will become malleable when heated to high temperatures.[24][25] Cowan also participates in glass blowing, and hot-sculpting.[24] She will usually re-melt the scraps that are collected, and this technique is a lot more wallet-friendly and is a lot more beneficial to the environment.[24]

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References
  1. "Vintage Pressed Glass Sculptures with a Flourish of Detail by Amber Cowan". Colossal. 2016-08-29. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  2. Spark the creative flame : making the journey from craft to art. Stankard, Paul, 1943-, Dietz, Ulysses G. (Ulysses Grant), 1955-. Granville, Ohio. 2013. ISBN 9781935778233. OCLC 861274215.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53ed226be4b0afa10367c5b0/t/5bc659e8652deaacc3dad290/1539725800949/COWAN_AMBER+2018+resume+logo.pdf
  4. "Amber Cowan CV". MICAELA CONTEMPORARY PROJECTS. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  5. "Amber Cowan Sculpture & Glass". ambercowan.com. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  6. Glass School, Pilchuck (2016). "Pilchuck Glass School Summer Program 2016" (PDF). pilchuck.com. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  7. School, Head of; enquiries.visualarts@anu.edu.au (2014-06-13). "Stephen Procter Fellowship". School of Art & Design. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  8. "GlassApp - Corning Museum of Glass". glassapp.cmog.org. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  9. "Amber Cowan (2014) | Corning Museum of Glass". www.cmog.org. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  10. "New Glass Review 33" (PDF). The Coring Museum of Glass. 2012.
  11. "Whole Milk Wash Basin in Colony Harvest – Objects - RISD MUSEUM". risdmuseum.org. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  12. "罗莎林（2） ROSALINE (2)". 上海玻璃博物馆 Shanghai Museum of Glass (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  13. "Collection Search | Corning Museum of Glass". www.cmog.org. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  14. "New Glass Review 35" (PDF). The Corning Museum of Glass. 2014.
  15. "New Glass Review 36" (PDF). The Coring Museum of Glass. 2015.
  16. "This Artist Transforms Glass Knickknacks into Stunning Sculptures". Oprah.com. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  17. "New installation showcasing advancement in glassmaking now on view at the Toledo Museum of Art". The Toledo Museum of Art. 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  18. "A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass". Boise Art Museum. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  19. "The Bleak and the Burgeoning" (PDF). Walton Arts Center. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  20. "Re|Collection". fullercraft.org. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  21. "HUSH". HUSH. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  22. "Hempel Glasmuseum | jubilee exhibition "colours" 2015". Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  23. "Chroma Revival, Heller Gallery, Press Release" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  24. "The Sensual Surrealism of Amber Cowan's Glass Sculptures". Yatzer. 2019-03-07. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  25. "Glass Dictionary | Corning Museum of Glass". www.cmog.org. Retrieved 2019-04-07.

Further reading
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