Matthew Urban

Matthew Urban began his career in art at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia as an industrial design student. The design field was where his first inspirations for glass came from. Intrigued by the multitudes of designs produced in glass from Italy from 1920 to 1962, he began to research the designers, architects, and sculptors from this distinctive time period. One semester he took an elective class in glassblowing and he soon changed majors from industrial design to glass. He has been a production assistant for Michael Schunke at Nine Iron Studio, Tom Farbanish at Certified Glass, an artist in resident and instructor at Corning Museum of Glass, a staff member at Pilchuck Glass School and has studied and worked around the world with numerous master glass makers specifically from Murano Italy. Matthew has had the opportunity to study and assist Lino Tagliapietra, Pino Signoretti, Dino Rosin, Gianni Toso, Elio Quarisa, Checco Ongaro, and Davide Salvidore. These interactions have had a profound impact on Matthew’s approach to glassmaking and appreciation for the history of glass. In May 2007 completed his Masters Degree at Illinois State University in Glass/Sculpture, in 2010 he completed building his artist studio where he continues to work. Matthew's studio has ultra-low carbon footprint in addition he uses 100% recycled glass for all his designs and sculpture.

In “See Life” Urban’s third and most notable solo exhibition takes the opportunity to continue to evolve his unique impressions of aquatic life in glass.  Urban’s preoccupation in this work is the study of the color, pattern and form. This work allows Urban to merge his passion and knowledge of glass making with his concerns for the awareness of our natural environment. The shape, color and movement of tropical sea life inspire each piece. Glass has the fluidity to mimic the myriad of the forms and patterns of the natural world. The transparency of glass lends itself to the brilliant array of colors found in nature. He hopes through imagination to raise awareness of the delicate ecosystems that continue to be destroyed. He adds his new and very personal style to what seems to be an infinite variety.

Urban’s raison d’etre is a hope that the work inspires the viewers with notions of “what if” and/or “plausibility” in an attempt that the viewer’s imagination is brought awareness of the amazing environment in which we live. This investigation offers Urban the supreme luxury of vocalizing through the material of glass combined with the inspiration of an endless source of forms and patterns offered by nature. Urban takes delight in reinterpreting the decade of classical training that he received from the most notable glass masters in the world and morphing together technique with a spontaneous emotion.