pate de verre glass | approx. 33" x 18" x 6"

Mielle Riggie earned her BFA from Alfred University in 1997 and her MFA through the University of Washington Fibers program in 2007. Her core motivation is that art can inspire emotion that inspires humanity and care of the beings and places of our surroundings. Utilizing materials that support or enhance her conceptual ideas, she works with glass because it is strong while simultaneously imparting a sense of fragility and light in order to reflect the tensions of daily life. Riggie states, “I am currently focused on casting glass in response to elements of memory and landscape, amplifying some of their qualities, and recombining disparate parts in a manner to exaggerate tension, balance, and fragility…to capture a fleeting sensation, like viewing the shape of a flock of birds before it disperses”. Riggie has just returned to New England from Seattle, which was her home for ten years where she primarily worked at the Pilchuck Glass School and with Northwest artists. In 2009 Riggie was honored with the BIGG: Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glasstease exhibition and a residency at The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass. expertease marks Riggie’s debut with the gallery. Riggie taught at the Pittsburgh Glass Center in May.