ARTIST INFO

LECKIE GASSMAN
Annapolis, MD

GLASS | Blown glass

Penland Affiliation | Penland Studio Assistant 2022, 2016, Penland Scholarship / Work Study Student 2019, 2017, 2015

Artist Information | Studio artist; education: BFA Alfred University; teaching: Appalachian Center for Craft, Maryland Institute College of Art, Bucks Rock Performing Arts Camp; exhibitions: Deliberate Works (Southern Highland Craft Guild, NC), Chroma: A Contemporary Survey of American Glass (TN), Material, Process, Object (Appalachian Center for Craft, TN),
DemoBLANK 3536 (CA), Touch Me, Don’t Touch Me (Habitat Gallery, NC), Balance (TG Gallery, NY), Alfred Clay Collective Silent Auction (Turner Gallery, NY); residencies: Appalachian Center for Craft (TN)

Artist Statement | Functional objects are tools we use every day of our lives; when these tools are individually made from elemental raw materials they bring us back to the earth – they serve as a grounding symbol.

My passion for the crafted object has come under scrutiny in these sculptures in an effort to re-evaluate its significance in my practice, and importantly its connection to humanity and the earth. Through the ascribed purpose and use of an object, the idea that form follows function becomes a way of life and thinking that utilizes observation in order to understand the cause and effect of things in the world.

The feelings of anxiety and the joyful celebration of beauty are balanced in these sculptures. This exists in the process of making, where the “flow” of working must involve risk and has the capacity to push the material and skill to the verge of failure. It also exists in the encounter of the final piece where the impulse to engage the functional objects within the system or to engage the system itself, is met by the consequence of doing so. Making, using, and presenting these forms is a constant reminder that we live with the earth, not on it.