Jeffrey Sarmiento
Research Councils UK Academic Fellow
Jeffrey Sarmiento is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. A Filipino-American artist, his work centers on inherited and constructed ethnicities, expressed through collisions of layered images within glass.
His research has led him to work in several locations in the US and Europe. He has been awarded fellowships at UrbanGlass in New York, the Creative Glass Center of America, and the Vermont Studio Center. In 2003, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Denmark. He has been an Emerging Artist in Residence and instructor at Pilchuck Glass School.
His work has been shown internationally, with recent exhibitions in the United States, Canada, Lithuania and Morocco.
PROJECTS
1. Hot Glass in the Baltic States
Based on observations of the remnants of Soviet architecture and recollections of people who lived in these spaces, this body of work reconsiders methods of portraiture through the creation of glass objects. Processes include hot glass, polishing, print, and waterjet cutting as tools for drawing and modeling the urban portrait.
The artist was a delegate to the 2007 Stiklo Sodas Symposium in Panevezys, Lithuania. An international gathering of glass artists from the Baltic States and beyond, the participants worked under the theme of "joints". An exhibition and catalog recorded the hot glass artworks and cultural exchange. Links for further educational and research collaborations are in progress.
2. Encyclopaedia
This body of 10 glass sculptures researches constructed ethnicities, and begins a five-year project to record the artist¿s assimilation to life in NE England. Through printed, layered and fused blocks of glass, the title work records and collects text, pattern and image throughout the project duration. Embedded layers of information within the clear glass causes all to simultaneously visible, providing a new way of seeing the density, breadth and change of the collection over time.
The work was shown in a traveling solo exhibition and publication with critical essays.
3. Strøm/Flow
This body of works in craft, design and installation researched Danish glass art and folktale to define complex cultural identity in globalized society. The three-year project was accomplished through the learning of Danish language, field research within the Danish glass art community, and the creation of works on local folktale.
The project was facilitated through a 12 months US Fulbright Fellowship to Denmark. Field research into Danish glass art led to new works based on the Danish model. Called unika, the Danish glass works are known for a unique combination of Nordic inspiration, traditional craft and modern design.
Strøm/Flow was shown in a 2004 solo exhibition in Copenhagen.
4. Palimpsest
A body of 9 glass sculptures, the works in Palimpsest are abstractions of the form of the book, visualizing the experience of manipulated cultural identity. The title refers to layered histories of medieval manuscripts and ancient frescoed walls, peeled away to reveal the work of others over time. In Sketchbooks, the layering of texts from various origins (handwriting samples, German gothic script, teacher¿s corrections from language class) establishes a new narrative. The layers of text were exposed by grinding through the glass to expose areas beneath the surface, creating works that combine the image with form.
The work was facilitated with material and technical help from Bullseye Glass Co., and was exhibited in a 2006 solo show at Bullseye Gallery.
