Jen Elek: Reflecting, Magnifying and Representing Bold Color in Hot Glass

Investigating interpersonal themes and the notion of community, Jen Elek is a studio artist and educator based in Seattle, Washington. She creates objects and installations of colorful glass and neon light employed as a form of non-verbal communication. Her most recent glass series titled Doliums is inspired by large Roman clay storage containers.  Elek received her BFA from Alfred University in Metal and Hot Glass sculpture in 1994, after training as a welder in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She was a student of Michael Scheiner, Dante Marioni, and Ann Wahlstrom at Pilchuck Glass School, and studied with Maestro Lino Tagliapietra at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. In addition to creating her own work, Elek has assisted glass artists such as Dale Chihuly, Kiki Smith, Preston Singletary, and Tagliapietra, on whose team she worked as a key member for 15 years. A vibrant contemporary glass artist, she exhibits alongside artists of other mediums, breaking some of the barriers that have kept glass in the realm of craft and offering it as a worthy medium of contemporary art. A member of the Northwest artist community, Elek's involvement in art organizations includes: Pilchuck Glass School, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Hilltop Artists, and as a guest lecturer at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Tacoma Art Museum, Pittsburgh Glass Center, and Traver Gallery in Seattle. Elek maintains a studio in south Seattle with husband Jeremy Bert, a Pacific Northwest neon artist with whom she collaborated on their project Illuminated Forest as well as a permanent public installation titled The Illuminated Palouse for the Port of Seattle, located near the D gates at SeaTac International Airport. Utilizing blown furnace glass, Elek creates sculptural objects that display the material's ability to reflect, magnify and represent bold color. Traditional and innovative processes combine in her work to create colorful landscapes of glass. In the spring of 2017, she was awarded the Pilchuck Artist at Work Residency where she developed a new body of work titled Visual Fun, which highlighted the infallibility and vibrant colors of glass.  Elek has traveled to Canada, Japan, Australia, and throughout the United States teaching glassblowing workshops. In 2026 she will be an instructor at Tulsa Glassblowing School, Tulsa, Oklahoma, May 14 – 19, residency May 20 – 23; at UrbanGlass, Brooklyn, New York, June 23 – 27; and at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, August 31 – September 5. She will be a gaffer at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, July 9 – 26.