SONJA BLOMDAHL
As an artist my focus has been with the vessel. In the vessel, I find the form to be of primary importance. It holds the space. In a sense, the vessel is a "history of my breath": It contains the volume within. If I have done things correctly, the profile of the piece is a continuous curve; the shape is full, and the opening confident. Color is often the "joy" in making a piece. I want the colors to glow and react with each other. The clear band between the colors acts as an optic lens; it moves the color around and allows you to see into the piece. For me there is still much to explore. The relationship between form, color, proportion, and process still intrigues me.
Born in Waltham, MA, Sonja Blomdahl has worked as an independent artist since 1983 when she built her own hot glass studio in Seattle, Washington. She is most interested in the relationship between form, color, proportion, and process, and has consistently explored the vessel shape in her work. Working in the incalmo technique (the joining together of multiple bubbles of glass), Blomdahl sees vessels as symbols of wholeness and balance. Each vessel's profile is a continuous curve while the colors glow and react with each other.
EDUCATION
1976 Orrefors Glass Skolan, Orrefors, Sweden
1974 BFA, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS AND COLLECTIONS
American Craft Museum, New York, NY Bank of America, Portland, OR Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL Boeing Corporation, Seattle, WA Brunnier Gallery and Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, IA Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, Little Rock, AR Collection of Modern Glass, Museum of Decorative Art, Prague, Czech Republic Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY Everett Public Library, Everett, WA Fine Arts Museum of the South at Mobile, Mobile, AL Harborview Medical Center, Cultural Heritage Artwork Collection, Seattle, WA Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL IBM Corporation, New York, NY Kitazawa Contemporary Glass Museum, Kitazawa, Japan Mathew's Collection, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ MCI Communications Corporation, World Headquarters, Washington, D.C .Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL Museum of Contemporary Art & Design, New York, NY Museum of Decorative Art, Prague, Czech Republic Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI Oregon Public Arts Commission (Salem Public Service Building), Salem, OR Port of Seattle, Seattle, WA Prescott Collection of Pilchuck Glass, Pacific First Centre, Seattle, WA Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, D.C. Safeco Corporation, Seattle, WA Seattle Arts Commission Portable Works Collection, Seattle, WA Sheraton Hotel, Seattle, WA Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA The White House Collection of American Craft, Washington, D.C. United Parcel Service Headquarters, Atlanta, GA Washington Mutual Savings Bank, Seattle, WA Washington State Arts Commission (Art in Public Places), Olympia, WA Westin Hotel, Seattle, WA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008-09 Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
2008 Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
2007 Sonja Blomdahl: Encalmo, Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL
2005 Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
1999 Twenty Years, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 Clear Your Mind: Contemporary Glass Invitational, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; Hot Color Cool Glass, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
2006-09 Contrasts: A Glass Primer, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
2003 Masters of Contemporary Glass Art, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
2002 Seige Damer; 3 Person Show, Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, WA
2000 Vessels: The International Exhibition of Glass, Koganezaki Glass Museum, Shizuoka, Japan
An International Survey of Glass, Kentucky Art & Craft Foundation, Louisville, KY
Glass from the Emerald City, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
1999 Glass! Glorious Glass!, Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art
Reflections on Light, Holter Museum, Helena, MT
1998 Aperto Vetro - Exposizione Internazionale del Vetro Contemporaneo, Venice, Italy
1997 Glass Today by American Studio Artists, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1995 The White House Collection of American Crafts, National Museum of American Art
1994-92 Clearly Art: Pilchuck's Glass Legacy, Whatcom County Museum, Bellingham, WA; International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, Kanazawa, Japan
1990-89 History of American Glass, Corning Museum of Glass, at the Hermitage, Leningrad & Moscow
1986 Crafts Today: Poetry of the Physical, Inaugural Exhibition, The American Crafts Museum, NY
1985 Northwest Glass, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, OK
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2001 U.S. State Department, gift presented by President Bush to Prime Minister of Sweden
1987 Artist's Trust Fellowship Grant
1986 National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Artists Fellowship Grant
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2002 The Pilchuck Glass School, Instructor, Stanwood, WA
1998 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Instructor, Deer Isle, ME
1992 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Instructor, Deer Isle, ME
1988 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Instructor, Deer Isle, ME
1985 The Pilchuck Glass School, Instructor, Stanwood, WA
PUBLICATIONS
2008 Greco, Patti. "Glass Act," More, Dec. 2007/Jan. 2008, p. 34
1999 New Glass Review, No's 4, 6, 13, 20. The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
1996 Oldknow, Tina. Pilchuck: A Glass School. Seattle: University of Washington Press
1995 Monroe, Michael W.White House Collection of American Craft. New York: Harry N. Abrams
"Matters of Mood: The Glass of Sonja Blomdahl," GLASS Quarterly. No. 59, Spring
1992 New Glass Review, No's 4, 6, 13, 20. The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
1991 Miller, Bonnie. Out of the Fire: Contemporary Glass Artists and Their Work. San Francisco
1990 Biskeborn, Susan. Artists at Work: 25 Northwest Glassmakers, Ceramists, and Jewelers. Anchorage, Alaska, Northwest Books
1983-85 New Glass Review, No's 4, 6, 13, 20. The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY