A determination to override norms
- Marc creates intricate glass forms with patterns and optical effects
- He studied cane and murrine techniques under acclaimed glass artist Scott Benefield
- His pieces use centuries-old techniques to create modern glasswork
Marc Carmen turned to glass after a decade in plumbing and heating, a background that gave him the skills to build his own one-man studio. In a serendipitous turn, his work installing and maintaining furnaces gave him the exact know-how needed to build and sustain a hot glass studio. Working with traditional Venetian methods alongside techniques he has developed himself, Marc turns glassmaking’s challenges into opportunities. “When I push against the limitations of a technique, I know there is a barrier waiting to be broken,” he says. In 2024, Marc was awarded the Prize for Excellence in Glass at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. “Having not come to glass through an art school or an apprenticeship, being recognised in this way has been incredibly validating,” he says.
Interview
- Where did you train in glassmaking?
- I trained at Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina, the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York and Urbanglass in Brooklyn, New York.
- How did you develop your glassblowing skills at the start?
- In 2010, only months after my first weekend-long glassblowing classes, I enrolled in a semester-long intensive course at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. The class was far beyond my skill level, but I caught up by working day and night in the studio.
- In what way have you made the practice your own?
- Glassblowing is often done in teams, but I soon realised my individualistic temperament and meticulousness made me better suited to working alone, where I could focus entirely on the glass rather than directing others. To overcome the technical challenges of solo work, I designed custom equipment, including automatic furnace doors, blowpipe turners and other devices.
- Which ideas or principles guide the style of your work?
- I want my pieces to make an aesthetic statement at first glance, revealing intricate detail and optical effects on closer inspection. I use simple forms like spheres and lenses as elemental vessels whose patterned complexity allows me explore wholeness and balance through symmetry, opposition and layering.
Marc Carmen is an expert artisan: he began his career in 2016
Where
Marc Carmen
