A playful spin on glass mastery
- In his pieces, Scott challenges the power of humour and its role in art
- His works have been exhibited all around the world since the 1990s
- His skillset acquired over decades allows him to produce highly complex works
After completing a degree in sculpture, Scott Chaseling found a job in glassblowing by chance. From then on, he was hooked. “It has been an incredible journey that has taken me around the world,” he says of his practice. He has worked, taught and exhibited in New York, Tokyo and Berlin, to name but a few. Scott’s career spans two luminous phases: in the 1990s, his monumental works at Leo Kaplan Modern marked him as a bold new voice. “I was a new kid on the block, and I had solo shows in New York,” he remembers. Today his smaller creations, alive with colour fusion and play, have won him recognition as a Loewe Foundation Craft Prize finalist of 2025. These joyful pots reveal Scott's technical mastery, combining blowing, fusing, murrine and reverse painting techniques. “I am a geek for technique,” Scott grins.
Interview
- How would you describe working with glass?
- Emotional. It is unlike a lot of other materials: if you make a mistake, you cannot paint over it or push it back into place. With glass, if it does not break, it still carries a memory. Any fault along the way remains. But it is also emotional because, when it works out, it is beautiful.
- How did you come to incorporating different techniques alongside glassblowing?
- I love the history of glass, and the traditions of reverse painting and murrine predate glassblowing. If I was asked to describe my work in a 15-second elevator pitch, I would say my work is rooted in history, harnesses these techniques, and transforms them into contemporary design.
- What role does playfulness play in the materiality of your work?
- Glassblowers are taught that form lines have to be straight and clear, and that our work is about symmetry. People who do not know me or the material think that my work is 'just a slumpy pot', but glassblowers love my work because they know you can only create these forms if you master glassblowing.
- How have schools influenced your works?
- I think both the Memphis Group and West Coast Funk Ceramics are schools that have humour in them. It is unfortunate that humour is not regarded highly in art. There is a lot of good work that brings a smile.
Scott Chaseling is a master artisan: he began his career in 1983 and he started teaching in 1986
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Scott Chaseling
