SHAYNA LEIB

When I was seven years old, I saw glassblowing for the first time at a local university. I haven't been the same since.

I began my study of glass as an undergraduate at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California where I received a BA in philosophy and minors in glass and literature. Accepted to pursue a PhD in philosophy at SUNY Binghamton, I chose instead to study glass at the graduate level and move to Madison, Wisconsin where I completed my MFA degree in May of 2003.

My work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has included exploration into the vessel and sculptural object. I use glass, not for its mimetic quality to capture the look of stone or plastic, but for its most unique properties; the inclination to flow, the capacity to freeze a moment in time, and its ability to manipulate optics.