Shannon Mabry
I was deeply inspired by the old world craftsmanship of stone inlay that I saw on a trip to Europe in my youth. I found glass to be the perfect medium for achieving that detail while also bringing transparency and flexibility of form.
I am increasingly drawn to the textures that fiber artist achieve so find myself on a new journey of creating highly textured pieces with a mix of transparency and opacity.
Shannon Mabry’s artwork begins as sheets of glass of a variety of colors which are cut into slim strips with varying widths. The strips are then heated in a kiln just hot enough to fuse the glass and topple the peaks without losing the detail of the individual strips. The result is a capricious weaving of the glass. Each piece takes a week or more to create and over a hundred strips of glass. The finished work takes the form of wall panels, sculptural pieces and art glass sconces.
Born in Southern California, Shannon Mabry was raised by her mother, an anthropology teacher, and occasionally by her father, an artist. She has worked with glass intermittently for twenty years. She has taken classes with artists including Peter McGrain and Gene Messick. She has lived throughout the United States at wild and wonderful locations. She has called Oklahoma home for over a decade.