Preston Singletary

The art of Preston Singletary
has become synonymous with the relationship between European glass blowing
traditions and Northwest Native art. His artworks feature themes of
transformation, animal spirits, and shamanism through elegant blown glass forms
and mystical sand carved Tlingit designs.

Singletary learned the art of glass blowing by working
with artists in the Seattle area including Benjamin Moore and Dante Marioni. As
a student and assistant, he initially focused on mastering the techniques of
the European tradition. His work took him to Kosta Boda (Sweden) where he
studied Scandinavian design and met his future wife. Throughout his over thirty
years of glass blowing experience, he has also had opportunities to learn the secrets
of the Venetian glass masters by working with Italian legends Lino
Tagliapietra, Cecco Ongaro, and Pino Signoretto. In 2010, he was awarded an
honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Puget Sound. 

Recognized internationally, Singletary's artworks are
included in museum collections such as The British Museum (London, UK), The
Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA), The Seattle Art Museum (Seattle WA), the
Corning Museum of Glass (Corning, NY), the Mint Museum of Art and Design
(Charlotte, NC), the Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ), and the Smithsonian
Institution (Washington, DC).

In 2009, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA, launched a
major mid-career survey of his work, entitled Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows. In 2018, he will
launch a new traveling exhibition with the Museum of Glass, titled Raven and the Box of Daylight, which
will push the boundaries of glass as a medium for storytelling.

Singletary is a
Tlingit of the Eagle moiety--one of two tribal societal groups--and a
member of the family house group of Kaagwaantaan. His clan's symbols are
Killer Whale, Brown Bear, Eagle and Wolf, and his group owns these symbols
and the rights to create and display them. Wanting to utilize these
symbols and to transfer the traditional formline design to his works in
glass, the artist realized that he had to first better understand how
those designs worked. Therefore, in 1998 Singletary began to study the visual
language of formline design. Over the next decade, he learned from and
collaborated with a veritable who's who of contemporary artists, including
Marvin Oliver (Quinault/Isleta Pueblo), Duane Pasco, Steve Brown, Joe
David (Nuu-chah-nulth), Gregg Blomberg and David Svenson.

The outcome can be seen in his glass and in his
limited edition bronzes and prints. He works with skilled carvers to realize
his designs in wood, which are then cast into limited edition bronzes using
molds and a lost wax technique. Each bronze is patinated by hand at Bronzesmith
foundry. His clear, clean formline designs can clearly be seen in his prints,
many of which are the same designs that can be seen in glass works created as
public and private commissions.