Mary Shaffer

Mary Shaffer (born 1944)[1] is an American artist who has worked primarily with glass since the 1970s.[2] She was an early artist in the American Studio Glass Movement. Her works often take slumped (or molten) form, in which found objects are embedded in the glass.[3] She has work in the collections of the Corning Museum of Glass and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[4]

For the American writer, see Mary Ann Shaffer.
Not to be confused with Mary Schäffer.
Mary Shaffer
Born1947 (age 75–76)
Walterboro, South Carolina, US
Alma materRhode Island School of Design
Known forStudio glass

Life

Shaffer was born in 1944 in Walterboro, South Carolina.[5] She grew up in South America. She studied illustration and painting, earning her B.F.A. in Illustration in 1965 from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[6][7]

Shaffer has taught at RISD, Wellesley College, and New York University as the Director of the Crafts Program in the 1970s and 1980s. She also managed the Art Center at the University of Maryland.[8]

Work

Shaffer's first experiments were with plate glass slumped over metal bars that were originally intended to be a canvas for painting.[9] During her time in Providence, RI, Shaffer experimented further to test glass' reaction under various conditions, and how it could be manipulated and combined with other materials. The early metal forms used were predominantly made using found objects such as discarded nails, spikes, brick, pulleys and wire.[10] Instead of manipulating the glass herself, Shaffer used gravity creating natural shapes made as a result of heat being applied to glass.[9]

References
  1. Koplos, Janet; Metcalf, Bruce (2010). Makers: A History of American Studio Craft. University of North Carolina Press. p. 366. ISBN 978-0807895832.
  2. Kingsley, April (1999). "Mary Shaffer, Pioneer". Glass Quarterly. 74: 30–36.
  3. Kangas, Matthew (1996). "Mary Shaffer". Sculpture. 15: 70–71.
  4. Mary, Shaffer. "Mary Shaffer". Artist's own website. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  5. "Mary Shaffer Bio". Grounds For Sculpture. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  6. "Mary Shaffer papers, 1969-2002". Archives of American Art. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  7. "New: RISD Alumni Win 2010 USA Fellowships". www.risd.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  8. Art, Archives of American. "Detailed description of the Mary Shaffer papers, 1969-2002 | Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution". www.aaa.si.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  9. Chambers, Karen S. (February 1989). "Modern Alchemist: Mary Shaffer". The World & I. 4: 204–209.
  10. Kingsley, April (Spring 1999). "Mary Shaffer: Pioneer". Glass Magazine. 74: 32.
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