My shield, from the Scarecrow Series, 1988

Discovering glass was one of the most challenging and transforming events in my life.

Challenging it is, from many perspectives. First, there is the material itself, and the expressions that I try to link to it. Then, there is the style of life and the choices made, which are not always easy but definitely stimulating. Finally, there is the challenge of incorporating all this into the larger forum of human experiences, endeavors, and desires.

My transformation has been determined by a continual process of learning, of awareness and of discovery that, in its simplicity and joy, deeply touches my heart. It gives me openness and change, is simple, liberating, and so full of potential, transforming, like the material itself.

With its enticing transparency yet solid impregnability, glass remains a seductive and magical medium full of contradictions.

FRAGILE, SOLID, HARD, STRONG

TRANSPARENT, TRANSLUCENT, OPAQUE

FLUID, SOFT, MALLEABLE

COLORFUL

TACTILE

HOT, WARM, COLD

MIRROR, REFLECT, REFRACT

BREAK, BRITTLE

SHARP, SMOOTH, ROUGH

TEXTURED

What better material is there with which to express the diversity and complexity of human existence: its power, its mystery, its beauty and its pain? Glass is the fragile metaphor with which I can ponder, struggle with and create those things that live inside me.

Susan Edgerley, August 25, 1996