Bio/Artist Statement

BIOGRAPHY

Steve Hagan received his BFA in 2002 from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and his MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2011. With more than twenty-five years of glass studio experience, he’s worked all around the US as an artist, educator, and production glassblower. Currently residing in Tucson, he runs High Priority Studio with Mark Leputa sharing space and creating their sculptural artwork, while utilizing the Sonoran Glass School’s public access hotshop for their glassblowing applications.

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

Citrus fruits are bright, aromatic, and a sensory explosion. Whether an addition to food or drink, I love the variety and ability for citrus to overwhelm our senses. The smells, flavors, and colors are expansive. Raised in a culinary family, I began my love affair with food at a young age. Learning that time spent in the kitchen often was a fun and rewarding usage of my creative energy. When I was first exposed to glass making, it completely overwhelmed me by the fluidity and dance that occurs with the material. Now 25+ years later I have combined my two true loves…. Food and glass. Utilizing a combination of traditional and non traditional glass cane and murrini techniques I create larger than life fruit sculptures with vibrant colors and intricate details. Each sculpture pattern is painstakingly constructed to resemble the interior structure of citrus. The pith and vesicles are represented by alternating veil and filigrana patterning techniques with color variations.

Each citrus fruit sculpture utilizes all of my glass experience. The development of techniques through trial and error occurred on a smaller scale initially with the techniques used to create life sized lemons. Now the sculptures are larger than life, allowing the viewer to dive deeper into the developed details of each citrus fruit. I layer patterning techniques with surface carving to really enhance the depth of each fruit slice or wedge.