Artists selected for the 2009 BIGG: Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass are:

Artist Statement
Symbols for a society serve two primary functions:  to unify its members, and to make the society uniquely recognizable to outsiders.  Regardless of how odd or alien the symbols used might be, most groups of people share the desires to build an ideal society where children are not hungry, people do not live in fear, and Divine Will is encompassed in everyday behavior.  Using traditional cold-worked glass techniques combined with etching and fusing, I explore how differing cultures understand reality and the temporal/divine relationship, through the visual vocabulary of their respective traditions.  Each work is a record of my endeavor to comprehend other people through the symbols they use; through participating in this process of learning, we can begin to appreciate the desires others have to find placement in the world and their aspirations for the future. Regardless of the language used, these hopes are common bonds of our shared humanity.  Cold-worked glass is a Western medium, which carries centuries of sacred association; this makes it an ideal material for expressing concepts, which hold a parallel weight in the cultures I am trying to understand.

Biography
Andrew Kosorok has been working with traditional Western stained glass window assembly for over twenty years, professionally the last fifteen. With his experience in nontraditional and historical techniques, he consults on unique restoration projects as well as large-scale commercial installations. Although much of his undergraduate work was in watercolor, his Bachelor of Fine Arts at BYU is in Sculpture, with an emphasis in Sculptural Stained Glass and minors in Comparative Humanities and Philosophy. He also received his Masters of Fine Arts at BYU, again focusing on Sculptural Stained Glass, with a graduate minor in Comparative Humanities. In addition to his full time stained glass work, he has taught introductory and foundation-level classes in drawing and sculpture at BYU, as well as being the instructor for classes in traditional stained glass window assembly, fusing techniques, and glass painting. He was a juror for the Spring 2008 Glass Art Guild of Utah Show in Salt Lake City, and received praise from the Mevlevi Sufi Order for the Islamic-themed works in his one-person show, “The Windows of Dzyan,” in 2008.

Resume
Education
2008    Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Comparative Humanities Minor, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
2003    Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Philosophy and Humanities Minors, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Professional
2004-Present    Instructor, 3-D Design, Drawing, and Stained Glass, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
1993-Present    Glass Artist, Special Projects Manager, Consultant Glass Images and Creations, Inc., Orem, Utah

Exhibition History
2009    Utah Ties, A Regional Art Competition Hosted by Central Utah Art Center, Jared Latimer, Director, at Ephraim, Utah, Juried by Moti Hasson, Gallery Director of Moti Hasson Gallery, New York, New York
Eighth International Art Competition: Remembering the Great Things of God An International Art Competition Sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, LDS Conference Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, Curator: Robert Davis
BDAC Statewide Competition 2009, A Statewide Art Competition, Bountiful/Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah, Curator:  Justin Diggle, Associate Professor, Department of Art and Art History, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

2008    A Collective Season of Joy, A Regional Invitational Group Exhibition, Covey Center for the Arts, Provo, Utah, Curator:  Kathryn S. Allen
Alchemical + Transmutations, A Collaborative Exhibition with Colin Tuis Nesbit, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, Presented Accompanying Lecture
Glass Art Guild of Utah Spring Hot Glass Show, A Regional Juried Group Exhibition, Salt Lake Public Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Invited as Juror
The Windows of Dzyan, A Solo Exhibition, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

2007    Contemporary Reliquaries, A National Invitational Group Exhibition, University of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona, Curator:  Jason Lanegan, Gallery Director, University of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona

2006    BYU Visual Arts Department Professional Development Grant, A Professional Development Grant for Travel and Tuition to Hot Glass Horizons 2006/Portland, an Intensive Workshop in Hot Glass Sculptural Techniques, Portland, Oregon, Received from the Visual Arts Department of Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Return to BIGG main page