Jen Blazina: Casting Lost Memories and Forgotten Voices in Glass

Perceiving her role as a record keeper, artist Jen Blazina captures the essence of lost memories and forgotten voices. Through her work, she holds onto fragments of personal history, transforming common objects into poignant relics of the past. Her visual narratives express universal concepts of memory, inviting audiences to connect with the stories she preserves.  Blazina states: "Memory is embodied in everything around us: in our culture, beliefs, objects, and ourselves. Discarded objects and those passed down to me become personal keepsakes and icons of the past, rather than overlooked or regarded as useless. My collections represent a sense of holding onto a place in time. By re-creating these keepsakes, I re-cast their history into my own voice." A sculptor and printmaker who uses glass as her primary medium, Blazina currently resides in Philadelphia where she is a working artist and professor at Drexel University in the College of Media Arts and Design. Blazina's work can be found in multiple collections such as the Neuberger Museum of Art, The Imagine Museum, The Cranbrook Museum of Art, and the Corning Museum of Glass, to name a few.  The artist has been awarded numerous residencies including: the Corning Artist in Residency at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York; GAPP Residency at Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, OH; Bezalel Art and Design Academy in Jerusalem, Israel; and the Creative Glass Center of America in Millville, NJ.  She has also been awarded prestigious grants such as the Bessie and Louis Stein Fellowship; Independence Foundation Grant; and a National Endowment for the Arts Grant. Nominated for the 2022 Pew Fellowship Award, Blazina received her M.F.A. in printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art, her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in New York and her B.F.A., cum laude, from the State University of New York at Purchase College.  Blazina is represented by Habatat Detroit Fine Art in Royal Oak, MI; Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville, NC; Vetri Glass Gallery in Seattle, WA; Kittrell Riffkind Gallery in Dallas, TX; Bullseye Projects in Portland, OR; and Koelsch Gallery in Houston, TX.  In 2025, Blazina will have work on view at the Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, WI, in New Art on the Block: Selections from the Permanent Collections, October 31, 2024 – April 6, 2025; in Object Memory, Jen Blazina and Ash Smith at 20*20 Gallery, Lansdowne, PA, February 22 –  April 15; in Through a Window Darkly, The Works of Jen Blazina at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, April 24 to October 5, 2025; in Collections at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Asheville, NC, May 2 – June 25; and in Glass 53: International Glass Invitational at Habatat Fine Art Gallery, Royal Oak, MI, May 1 – September 6. She will teach Alternative Approaches to Printmaking and Glass at Corning Museum of Glass Studios, Corning, NY, June 16 – June 21; and In Pursuit of Light: Kiln Casting at Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey, August 25 – August 29. Says Blazina: "As an artist, I am intrigued with the idea that what is precious to one person will be discarded by another. My work is influenced by commonplace possessions, familial vignettes and photographs. These evoke an ephemeral sense of past memories. Whether found in a second-hand shop or passed down from my family, I am often attracted to and captivated by the lost beauty of subtle images and materials. By re-creating and casting momentos in glass and metal, I can capture and hold on to another time in the past. Photographs and chosen objects allude to narratives of fleeting moments." ​UPCOMING EVENTS New Art On The Block: Selections From The Permanent Collections Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass Neenah, WI Dates: October 31 – April 6, 2025 Object Memory, Jen Blazina and Ash Smith 20*20 Gallery Lansdowne, PA Dates: February 22 – April 15 Through a Window Darkly, The Works of Jen Blazina Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass Neenah, WI Opening: April 24 Dates: April 24 to October 5 Collections Blue Spiral 1 Gallery Asheville, NC Opening Reception: May 2, 5 – 7 pm Dates: May 2 – June 25 Glass 53: International Glass Invitational Habatat Fine Art Gallery Royal Oak, MI Opening: May 3, 8 pm Dates: May 1- September 6 Alternative Approaches to Printmaking and Glass Corning Museum of Glass Studios Corning, NY Dates: June 16- June 21 In Pursuit of Light: Kiln Casting Glass Furnace Istanbul, Turkey Dates: August 25 – August 29