Artist Statement

“I am drawn to glass as a material for its properties of fragility and clarity, the way it captures and manipulates light, and its ability to metaphorically represent the line between the visible and invisible.”
--Treg Silkwood

BIOGRAPHY

Treg Silkwood was born and raised in the Big Sky country of Montana. Growing up he knew that he wanted to work with his hands. He studied pre-medicine at the University of Montana before deciding to pursue a career in the arts. In 1996 he received his BFA from Alfred University graduating the Top Student of the Art and Design school. At Alfred, he was exposed to a variety of art making materials and processes and concentrated primarily on mixed-media sculpture and cast glass. In 1995 he spent a semester studying at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. In the Atelier of Glass he learned Czech mold-melted glass and cold-working techniques.

Treg spent the next five years working as a production glass blower recreating early American glass at the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. At the Village, he deepened his appreciation for the history and the craft of working with glass. It was there that he refined his glass skills and discovered the value of using glass as a vehicle of expression. Treg has worked as a gaffer for the Hot Glass Road Show of the Corning Musuem of Glass, a state of the art mobile glass blowing studio. He has demonstrated and taught glassblowing at numerous institutions and schools across the United States and abroad.

Treg moved to the Bay Area in 2002, after falling in love with Candace Martin. The two combined their talents to form Silkwood Glass a custom, handcrafted glass company. Treg and Candace bring complimentary talents to their partnership; Treg’s glassblowing skill and mastery of form are coupled by Candace’s painterly sense of color and innovative designs. Treg is currently the senior glass instructor at the Bay Area Glass Institute in San Jose.

In 2008, Treg had is first solo show at the prestigious Steuben Flagship Store on Madison Avenue in New York City from May to December. He was honored to be the second artist invited to take part in the “Steuben Selections Series,” which showcases some of the world’s foremost artists in glass.

As of May 2010 his works are available at Studio 391, Gualala, CA.