Flattened Ocean Vase

ARTIST STATEMENT

“My goal as an artist is to express what is important to me. I want to explore all of the incredible possibilities I can discover through glass and to further develop my own voice with this medium. For me, there are three steps to the art making process. First, the art must be conceived, second it must be executed, and third, it must be presented to the public. It is not just about having a vision; it is about exposing that vision to others.“

Lady Bug Vase

(Click on image for larger view)

Blue Stripe

Currently Geoff is the owner/operator of Island Glassworks in Kailua, Hawai`i. It is Honolulu’s only glassblowing studio open to the public.


Geoff Lee started blowing glass at the age of sixteen while attending Punahou School in Hawai’i. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and after graduation worked for several glassblowers around the country. Most recently, Geoff just received his MFA from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

As an artist of partial Korean descent his work is heavily influenced by his family, popular American culture and traditional Italian glassblowing techniques. After a trip to Seoul, Korea, he began to produce work that reflected his growing interest in Korean culture, most importantly his fascination with the great Bronze Bells and ancient Korean ceramic forms of the Three Kingdoms Period, and the influence of Buddhism throughout the culture.

CONTACT: Geoff Lee
Island Glassworks, LLC
171-A Hamakua Dr.
Kailua, HI 96734
808.263.4527 work
808.263.4525 fax
808.392.6482 cell

PUBLICATIONS

2006 Take Home Design: Stylish Products By Hawai`i’s Hottest Designers, Honolulu, April 2006

2004 Report from Hawaii: Korean Crossings, Art in America, September 2004

New Glass Review 25, Neues Glas/ New Glass 2004

2003 The 3^rd Exhibition of Collectors Goblets, Vetro, #17, 2003

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Present-2005 ISLAND GLASSWORKS, LLC, Kailua, HI
Owner/designer/fabricator

2004 HAWAI'I CRAFTSMEN: AHA HANA LIMA, Honolulu, HI
Teaching Assistant for Benjamin Moore

PRESIDENT of HOT GLASS HUI, Honolulu, HI
Organization of Glass Artists in Hawai`i

2002 KYUNG HEE UNIVERSITY, Suwon, Korea
Guest Lecturer: Artist Talk and Glassblowing Demonstration

2002-2001 UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I AT MANOA, Honolulu, HI
Lecturer: Introduction to Glass

2000 PILCHUCK GLASS SCHOOL, Stanwood, WA
Teaching Assistant for Richard Royal – Glassblowing Apprenticeship

1999 PILCHUCK GLASS SCHOOL, Stanwood, WA
Teaching Assistant for Ferdinand Thieriot – Beginning Solid Working

1999-1998 TOM FARBANISH INC., Pleasant Gap, PA
Glassblowing and studio assistant executing works for Tom Farbanish

GLASS AXIS, Columbus, OH
Beginning and intermediate glassblowing instructor

A & E ARTWORKS, Columbus, OH
Glassblowing gaffer and assistant executing works for A & E Artworks

1996-1995 BENJAMIN MOORE INC., Seattle, WA
Glassblowing and studio assistant/apprentice executing works by Dan Dailey, Dante Marioni, Robbie Miller, Benjamin Moore, Janusz Pozniak, Richard Royal, Preston Singletary, Lino Tagliapietra

CHIHULY INC., Seattle, WA
Glassblowing and studio assistant executing works for Dale Chihuly

EDUCATION

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS