Olivia Dobkin

Bio

After receiving her BFA in glass from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Olivia worked as a studio assistant for a high-end lighting company in New York. Then she worked in Europe for nine months. She assisted UK glass artists James Devereux and Elliot Walker, "Blown Away" winner. She also worked in glass factory production in Murano, Italy, where she was fascinated with the process to make traditional Venetian stemware. Olivia is now a member of the Monarch Glass Studio team creating architectural, lighting, and fine glass.

Artist Statement

Much of my time in glass has been spent studying the material and its dynamic way of speaking, rather than focusing on yielding a specific result. It wasn’t until recently, that I started to pursue certain visions using the vocabulary and conversation that I picked up on thus far. Trying to find my own voice in an age-old material with my love for traditional Italian techniques is a bit of a challenge, but one of the biggest things I’ve learned in glass is how to let go and understand that at the end of the day, working with the material will always be more of a dance where perhaps I am the lead, failure is inevitable if I don't take my partner's needs into consideration. 

This piece, in its final solid form, mimics the flow and spontaneity that is used when working with the glass in its molten state. The variation in color on the body of the vessel acts as a record of sorts to the heats and movements I was making to achieve the desired shape. While the neck, an opaque gray, balances the semi-matte finish of the hand-carved pattern. During the carving process, I have a rough idea of where the pattern is going, but I don’t know where it will lead. Each mark is carefully made by hand; too much focus on the bigger picture will reflect certain stiffness, and too little focus, a bit of chaos. Both these elements can be seen as my mind shifts between control and acceptance.