Alexis Silk

www.alexissilk.com

Biography

Alexis Silk was born in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1983. She has been working full time as an artist since 2006 and has been working in Murano, Italy since 2012. Currently she demonstrates and teaches around the world. Alexis has studied with glass masters such as Pino Signoretto, Martin Janecky, Richard Royal, and Cristiano Toso.
Her work is included in museums, galleries and private collections
throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
She works closely with the artisan glass studio Ars Murano srl to realize groundbreaking work.

Artist Statement

Alexis Silk is breaking exciting ground with dramatic new works in blown glass and metal that are both timeless and thought provoking. Emerging from the intersection of the artist’s fascination with the human figure, passion for her molten medium, and desire for conceptual expression, her sculptures create new conversation dealing with ideas about personal growth, nature and perception.
Technically, Alexis is pushing the boundaries of what is possible in glass. Her glass figures are sculpted entirely free-hand, without the use of molds, while the glass is hot on the end of the blowpipe or punty rod. Some of her largest glass figures are life-size torsos hanging in six-foot-high steel frames. The blown glass bodies weigh up to 70 pounds and require a team of seven skillful assistants to handle the glass while she sculpts it. She has also created larger than life, full female figures that stand seven feet tall, and showcase realistic facial features and hands.
Alexis describes the source of her inspiration as all around her. The human figure in its many forms is a window and connection to our humanity and our divinity. The tension and interdependence of society and the individual is the milieu within which we live. There is always ambiguity. Power, for example, can be expressed as ugly, demeaning and objectifying, or it can be beautiful, strong and joyful.
Alexis captures these concepts in a masterful juxtaposition of the fluidity and translucence of glass with the rigidity and strength of cast iron and steel. Her sculptures combine intrinsic beauty and whimsy with meaningful comment on human nature and society.