About

Scott Darlington

Biography

Scott has been working with hot glass for more than 35 years. After completing his BFA at the Appalachian Center for Crafts he moved to Seattle and worked as an assistant for many different artists. Scott also worked as the Hot Shop Coordinator at Pilchuck Glass School for 7 summers. After nearly 10 years in Seattle, he spent 4 years in Japan as Associate Professor at the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art. In the spring of 2007 he received his MFA in glass from The Ohio State University. Scott was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bowling Green State University from 2007-2011. He has also done two residencies at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. Scott has taught workshops around the globe, including Canada, Japan, Pilchuck, and Penland. He and his family returned to Seattle in summer 2011 where Scott was Glass Studio Manager at Pratt Fine Arts Center for 9 years. Scott is now an independent artist.

Artist Statement

Glass is wonder. I try to recreate everyday objects in the glassiest way to see if glass celebrates the object or to see if glass ridicules it. Does a glass clothespin have a different feeling than a glass gun? Is one a trophy? Is one a lampoon? I want to see what glass has to say about objects, then blend and tweak that with my intuitions and motivations to give it a new voice. I want my work to transform an otherwise ordinary object and have it ask questions about itself, in a celebration of the known and unknowable, the obvious and mysterious.

I work glass in the same way I used Legos and Tinker Toys as a child. I make vast numbers of parts to assemble and construct. Even though I might make the same component again and again, I expect it to be different every time. I love the fact that glass has endless variations and possibilities, mystery, and chance. Glass is fragile, ghostly, heavy, and substantial at the same time. These contrasting qualities say things and ask questions about the objects that I make.

My technical abilities and ideas develop in a similar pace in the studio. The repetition of processes allows me to boil down my inspirations and leads me to think about variations or other ways to express an idea. Once is seldom enough.