When I was a child, our house underwent a remodel and the yard was messy, full of piles of soil and mud; in short, a boy’s paradise. A favorite pastime of the neighborhood kids was engaging in dirt-clot throwing wars on our backyard battleground.
One day, while preparing for a battle, I picked up a pile of ammunition and began to fashion it into what would be the perfect muddy weapon. Slowly and deliberately I formed it with my bare hands until the amorphous clot of mud began to take the form of a ball. I became obsessed, shaping for probably an hour, and eventually created a perfect sphere.
To me, this tennis ball sized object seemed much too perfect to sacrifice in battle, so I placed it in a small glass dish, and hid it inside the tool shed. There it lived, until one spring day when I decided that I would impress my fellow combatants. Upon revealing the sphere, not a single one of my comrades believed that it was merely dirt. They were all sure that it must be a ball coated with mud. I pondered the options: return my treasure to the shed, or break it open and impress my friends? At this moment, none of us knew what the outcome would be.
Looking at the broken pile of earth, splayed out on the sidewalk, I felt a sense of pride that I had created something so perfect, and a sense of loss that I ruined it. Gazing upon what was left, clearly a broken sphere, rounded edges still intact, with the rough inside sections casting shadows, questions arose: which is more beautiful; intact or sectioned, outside or inside, shapes or shadows? Why was I so drawn to this spherical form and now its broken remnants?
The glass sculptures that I make are an effort to re-create this experience. Openings allow the viewer to peer through the sculptures where distinct separate colored sections are fused together to become one. Through my work ask questions about precariousness and preciousness, while also recalling my own experiences of being in relationship. The fragility of glass allows a tension to exist between viewer, sculpture and sculptor, hopefully creating a sense of concern for objects that may be considered simultaneously strong yet precarious, beautiful yet breakable.
JOHN KILEY b. 1973 USA
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 “Evenfall”– Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 “Structure”– LewAllen Galleries, Scottsdale, AZ
2012 “Aurorae”– Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Interiours” – Etienne Gallery, Oisterwijk, The Netherlands
“Perspectives” – SOFA New York, Schantz Galleries
2011 “Inclinations”– LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
“John Kiley”– Hawk Gallery, Columbus, OH
2010 “The Space Within”– Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
1992 “Abstract Paintings”– The Village Gallery, Seattle, WA
1990 “Reverse Paintings on Glass”– The Gifted Answer, Seattle, WA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015 “Seattle Art Fair”– with Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Featured Artist – Glass Collector Weekend”– Schantz Galleries, Stockbridge, MA
“Refract”– Waterford City Hall, Waterford, Ireland
“43rd International Invitational”– Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI
“John Kiley/ Dante Marioni/ Preston Singletary – Hawk Galleries, Columbus, OH
“Art Palm Beach”– with Habatat Galleries
“Gallery Artists Group Exhibition”– Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2014 “SOFA Chicago”– with Traver Gallery
“Art Palm Beach”– with Pismo Gallery
“Silicon Valley Contemporary Art Fair”– with Schantz Galleries
“Shades of White”– Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Glass Today: 21st Century Innovations – New Briton Museum of American Art, CT
“The Magic of Glass”– Denver International Airport, Denver, CO
2013 “New Work”– Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2012 “Curators Choice: Celebrating 40 Years”– Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
“Transitions II” – Davis and Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR “Contemporary Glass”– Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
“Gallery Artists Group Exhibition”– Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Oisterwijk Sculpture”– Etienne Gallery, The Netherlands
2011 “Art Miami”– with LewAllen Galleries
“SOFA Chicago”– with Traver Gallery
“Clear And Present”– LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
“Glass Weekend, Millville New Jersey”– with Litvak Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
“The Nature of Glass – Curated by Traver Gallery”– Schack Art Center, Everett, WA
“Art Palm Beach” with Litvak Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
2010 “Group Show –“Fertile Ground”– The Museum Of Glass, Tacoma, WA
“Featured Artist – Holsten Galleries, www.holstengalleries.com
“Featured Artist –“12 in Glass”– Holsten Galleries, www.holstengalleries.com
“Featured Artist –“Outside In – The Artwork of John Kiley”– Schantz Gallery, Stockbridge, MA
2009 “Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass”– Ohio State University, Hawk Galleries, Columbus, OH
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2010-present Glass Director Schack Art Center – Everett, WA
2012 Visiting Instructor Pittsburgh Glass Center – Pittsburgh, PA
1994-2011 Principal Assistant Lino Tagliapietra – Worldwide
2007 Visiting Instructor Bezalel Academy of Arts – Israel
2003, 2005 Visiting Glassblower Waterford Crystal – Ireland
2000 Instructor Pratt Fine Art Center – Seattle, WA
1996-2000 Glassblowing assistant Dante Marioni Studio – Seattle, WA
1998 Visiting Instructor National College of Art & Design – Ireland
1998 Teaching Assistant Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
1994-1998 Glassblower/Gaffer Chihuly Studio – Seattle, WA
1997-2000 Glassblower Benjamin Moore, Inc. – Seattle, WA
1997 Teaching Assistant Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
1996 Teaching Assistant Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
1998-2000 Gaffer Manifesto Corporation – Seattle, WA
1993-1994 Glassblower/Coldworker Glass Eye Studio – Seattle, WA
AWARDS & HONORS
Featured Artist – Red Hot Auction – The Museum Of Glass, Tacoma, WA
Honorary Artist – Pittsburgh Glass School “Art On Fire”Auction
Jurors Choice Award – New Glass Review, Corning, NY
Peoples Choice Award, Red Hot Auction – The Museum Of Glass, Tacoma, WA
Best In Show – Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass, Ohio State University
Artist in Residence 2010, 2011,2014 – The Museum of Glass – Tacoma, WA
Francis S. Merritt Scholarship – Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Scholarship – Pilchuck Glass School
Cover Artist – Glass Magazine – Winter 2012-13
SELECTED EDUCATION
Pratt Fine Arts Center Seattle, WA
Pilchuck Glass School Stanwood, WA
Penland School of Crafts Penland, NC
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Museum Of Glass, Tacoma, WA
The Shanghai Museum of Glass, Shanghai, China
Sandy Baklor & Arlene Kaufman
Al Berger & Carol Auerbach
Jeffrey Bronfman
The Kaplan/Ostergaard Collection
Frank Everett
Sir Elton John
Perry Farrell
Jim Flaws and Marcia Weber
Snohomish County
The Seven Bridges Foundation
Emirates Airlines
Fly Dubai Airlines
Qatar Airlines
