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Victor Chiarizia
Victor Chiarizia, who recently moved to Western North
Carolina from Connecticut, blows glass that is well
known for its technical innovations, organic forms and
spirited colorations. Chiarizia’s limited edition vessels
and sculptures demonstrate an exceptional use of
incalmo, a 500-year-old Venetian technique that
requires the artist to create cup-shape vessels that are
connected to one another on the blow pipe. Incalmo and
reverse incalmo are complex and physically demanding
processes for even the most experienced glassblowers.
Chiarizia uses this unusual technique to produce large
vertical and diagonal bands of color within a vessel.
Since 1975 Victor Chiarizia has explored many facets of
glassmaking, including blown, flameworked, cast,
etched and sandblasted. Today, his sculptural works
express his thoughts about life, growth and renewal in
art glass comprised of two distinctive techniques--hot
glass and flameworked glass with vitreous fired-on
enamels. Images from Chiarizia's Italian-American
background coupled with a boundless imagination give
an earthy yet surreal style to much of his sculptural work.
Chiarizia’s awards include New Glass Review 25 in
2004. Commissions include The Palace Hotel in
Beijing, Herald Examiner in Los Angeles, The
Smithsonian, St. Thomas Cathedral in New York, The
Frick Collection in New York and Tiffany’s in New York.
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