SINCE 1975 Victor Chiarizia has explored many facets of glassmaking, including blown, flameworked, cast, etched and sandblasted. Today, Chiarizia's sculptural works express his thoughts about life, growth and renewal in art glass comprised of two distinctive techniques--hot glass and flameworked glass with vitreous fired-on enamels. Profound images from Chiarizia's Italian-American background coupled with a boundless imagination give an earthy yet surreal style to much of his sculptural work. Victor Chiarizia's glass is well-known for its technical innovations, organic forms and spirited colorations. His most acclaimed work includes The Botanicals, a series of sculptures with flameworked glass which is treated with multiple applications of enamels to give luster and luminosity to the vines, blossoms, fruit, human hands, and other elements that cling to amorphous hot glass vessels. Chiarizia also creates limited-edition vessels and sculptures which demonstrate an exceptional use of Incalmo, a 500 year-old Venetian technique that requires the artist to create cup-shape vessels which are then connected to one another on the blow pipe. Incalmo and reverse incalmo are complex and physically demanding processes for even the most experienced glassblowers. Chiarizia uses this unusual technique to produce large vertical and diagonal bands of color within a vessel. In addition, he has also earned acclaim for the Volcanic Series of glass sculptures with sand-carved and etched surfaces to reveal deeply organic textures and colorations upon a Pate de Verre base. Victor Chiarizia is represented by fine galleries throughout the United States. Education The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass / CORNING, NY Haystack School of Crafts / DEER ISLE, ME Salem College / PENNSGROVE, NJ Awards 2004 New Glass Review 25 Museum of Art and Design NICHE Award for Excellence in Flameworked Glass Commissions The Palace Hotel / BEIJING Absolut Vodka / TEANECK, NJ Royal Caribbean / LONDON, UK Herald Examiner Building / LOS ANGELES, CA Sandwich Glass Museum / SANDWICH, MA The Smithsonian / WASHINGTON, DC Heublein Corporation / FARMINGTON, CT In New York City: St. Thomas Cathedral AT&T St. Ignatius Church The Frick Collection Tiffany's Bulgari Morgane Le Fay Fashion House Barney's Juried Shows Philadelphia Museum of Art / PHILADELPHIA, PA American Craft Council (ACC) / BALTIMORE, MD; CHICAGO, IL; and W. SPRINGFIELD, MA Buyers Market of American Crafts / PHILADELPHIA, PA Crafts Park Avenue / NEW YORK, NY Selected Gallery & Museum Exhibitions Bella Vetri Gallery / KAPALUA MAUI, HI Habatat Galleries / ROYAL OAK, MI CODA Galleries / PALM DESERT, CA / NEW YORK, NY Corning Museum of Glass / CORNING, NY Wheaton Village Gallery / MILLVILLE, NJ Turning Point Gallery / MEDIA, PA Glass Reunion / KEY WEST, FL Hudson Bay Gallery / VIRGINIA BEACH, VA Don Muller Gallery / NORTHAMPTON, MA Topeo Gallery / NEW HOPE, PA Laughing Dog Gallery / VERO BEACH, FL Thomas Riley Galleries / COLUMBUS, OH Avalon Gallery / DEL RAY BEACH, FL Vale Craft Gallery / CHICAGO, ILL Dane Gallery / NANTUCKET, MA Pinnacle Gallery / SCOTTSDALE, AZ Susan Benjamin Galleries / SAFETY HARBOR, FL Masterpiece Crafts Gallery / MARLTON, NJ Kebanu / BEND, OR Houston Center for Contemporary Craft / HOUSTON, TX Gallery 1 / NAPLES, FL Kuivato Gallery / SEDONA, AZ Petri's Gallery / SAUSALITO, CA Fusion Art Glass / SEASIDE, FL Mostly Glass Gallery / ENGLEWOOD, NJ Stein Gallery / PORTLAND, ME Hsinchu Glass Art Museum / TAIWAN Wadsworth Antheneum / HARTFORD, CT American Craft Museum / NEW YORK, NY Museum of Modern Art / NEW YORK, NY Museum of Contemporary Art / SAN DIEGO, CA Selected Books & Publications Contemporary Glass: Color, Light & Form / Guild Publishing Flameworking: Creating Glass Beads, Sculptures & Functional Objects / Lark Books Contemporary Lampworking Vol. 1 / Salusa Glassworks NEW GLASS REVIEW 25 / 2004 Housatonic Home / APRIL 2004 ArtisticFX Magazine (Featured Artist) / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 The Philadelphia Inquirer / NOVEMBER 15, 2003 Ornament Magazine / AUTUMN, 2003 American Style (Featured Artist) / SUMMER 2002 NICHE Magazine for Craft Retailers / WINTER & SPRING 2002, WINTER & SPRING 2001 The Hartford Courant / NOV. 30, 2000 California Visitor Review / OCT. 20, 2000 NICHE Magazine / SUMMER 2000 and SUMMER 1999 The Boston Globe Magazine / DEC. 5, 1999
