Peter Vizzusi, Resume and Artist's Statement.

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	Peter Vizzusi B.A., San Jose State University, 1973 Beginning Glass-blowing, Dr.Robert Fritz, S.J.S.U. 1974(!) Self-taught since 1975 Founded Magic Sands Glass Studio, 1979 Pilchuck Glass School 1989 Independent study, Murano, Italia, 1999 Società Dante Alighieri, 2002

Glassblowers have practiced their craft since Roman times; gathering the molten glass on the end of a hollow tube, inflating it, and shaping it into functional and, often, beautiful vessels. Our process is essentially the same as that utilized in ancient glass-making, but also relates to the best of Murano, and to Tiffany’s “Favrille” from the turn of the 20th Century.

The recent “studio glass” movement has taken glass-making out of the factory and returned it to the smaller, artisan-operated studio. By re-visiting the past, we’ve found a new direction. We modern “artigiani” inhabit the shifting space between the old and new world. While I respect the skill and traditions of the “maestri” of the past, I explore the improvisational possibilities of the molten glass. My best work is done when I’m seeing life, and the glass, through my own eyes and the choreography of production becomes nearly unconscious. Then, I’m able to coax the glass into shape, improvise forms, add rich color, texture and iridescence- the possibilities of which are already contained in the molten material.

Le Meraviglie

My current “Meraviglie” series has evolved from one perfect, functional, ancient Roman vase in a museum in Padova. I trust my intuitive sense of form and color, then add silver and metallic oxides at extremely high temperatures to attain the ephemeral iridescent luster of ancient glass. I hope to invoke a sense of the archaeological, while creating decorative vessels of universal appeal- objects that manifest both the personality that formed them, and the amazing inherent properties of the molten glass.

I’ve come to an understanding of, and continued respect for, the archetypal vessel, which, I believe, will always have a resonance in our unconscious.

Peter Vizzusi
Magic Sands