Matthew Paskiet

Biography

Matthew Paskiet is a native to The Glass City, Toledo, Ohio. He currently resides in Holland, Ohio with his wife and 2 kids. He began his study of glassblowing at The Toledo Museum of Art in 1993 and the continued his studies at Pilchuck Glass School in Washington state in 1998, as well as, Fundacio Centre del Vidre in Barcelona in 2001. Matt also refined his skills by assisting Chihuly’s Boathouse Studio team in 1999-00 and multiple esteemed glass artists throughout that time. He later returned back to Toledo and opened Firenation in Holland in 2002, where he has been blowing glass locally ever since.

Artist Statement

I see the artist as creator. We take raw material and transform it into objects that hold aesthetic significance, creating beauty from virtually nothing. Despite my critical eye, a sense of wonder emerges every time I cast my first gaze upon a finished piece. The object I hold in my hand today was nothing more than an idea and a pool of molten liquid yesterday.

I choose to work in glass because of its complex nature and rich history. There is something primitive and raw about many of the tools and applications but the results are often delicately subtle and elegant. Variations in opacity and transparency capture and transform light passing through a given piece, creating an ever changing experience and individual journey. There are few materials that allow for this kind of fluidity and sensual landscape.

My creative style is generally vivacious yet impulsive. It tends to lean towards the abstract and decorative, utilizing shape and color to generate a reaction. Often, new ideas are formed through the internalization of my daily experiences. These seeds take root through experimentation, research and planning, resulting in variations which are loosely tied to the initial idea. A recent series of work titled “Murrini Madness” is intensely populated with a variety of floral and swirling linear elements. The density and congestion of these pieces relates to an earlier project titled “99 Blackbirds”. Both series communicate a sense of strength in numbers, unity and diversity. In short they both represent community and family. More often than not, these re-occurring themes blossom in most of my artistic creations.

To me art is a merger between the artist, their experiences and an interpretation of their relationships. A place where the internal, be it cognitive or subconscious, gels with raw external materials. This process of thoughtfully combining the internal and external is the function of the artist. And the result...is ’living’ art.