MICHAEL COHN

For as long as I can recall, I have made things with my hands. It is what I do. It is one of my primary forms of expression. I am also completely fascinated by fire—by its incredible power to destroy as well as to create. It is appropriate then, that I have devoted the greater part of my life to the creation of objects of glass (or primarily glass).

The act of glass making is elemental—it involves earth, air, fire and water. It is a series of choreographed steps—a firey fluid dance, of which the end result is a record of the moves of the dance frozen in motion. Even after working so closely with this material for so many years, I am still amazed that a pile of what appears to be basically sand can be shoveled into the furnace and the next day can be transformed into essentially anything ones imagination, skill and strength will allow. Physics, alchemy and magic each play a part in the process.

I am inspired by the purity of the classical forms and the beauty and diversity of the natural world, as well as by the ingenuity and functionality of machinery. I derive equal satisfaction in the creation of high quality decorative and/or sculptural glasswork as well as in the design and construction of the furnaces, ovens and other equipment, which make the work possible.

Please Click Here to View My Sculptural Pieces

 

Born Long Beach, California 1949

EDUCATION
University of California, Berkeley
Long Beach City College, California
Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood , Washington

TEACHING
California College of Arts and Crafts
California State College, San Francisco
Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington

National Endowment for the Arts Craftsman’s Fellowship 1977 and 1984

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, Germany
Huntington Museum, Huntington, W. VA
National Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Kestner Museum, Hanover, Germany
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Musee de Design et d’,Arts Appliques/Contemporains, Lausanne, Switzerland
E.B. Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Charles A. Wooster Museum, Mequon, WI
San Francisco Fine Arts Museums, CA
J.P. Lannan Foundation, Palm Beach, CA
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
The Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
American Embassy Moscow, Russia
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
California Crafts Museum, San Francisco, CA
Yamaha Corporation, Japan
Owens Illinois Corporate Gallery, Toledo, OH
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
American Crafts Museum, New York, NY
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
National Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, Germany