Marc Petrovic graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1991. He was the
recipient of the top Agnes Gund Memorial scholarship.
"I strive to be an artist first and a hot glass sculptor second" explains Petrovic.
"Although I primarily work with glass, a material commonly viewed as a craft
material, I strive to make content driven work that stresses the idea at its core
rather than the seductive material it is made from. Once you get past the expansive
technical difficulties of working with this material, it offers the creator almost
endless possibilities for form, color and content. It is one of the few materials
where you work with color and form simultaneously. Glass also has the unique
ability to be opaque, translucent, or completely transparent. But glass in itself is
limited. It is just a material. Until it is infused with an idea, a source, or an
expression, my job as an artist is not complete.
My approach to working is to make varied parts. Most parts are made to satisfy
a list for sketched pieces, with extra parts and variations being made at the same
time. Often these parts sit for months or years before they make their way into one
of my pieces. I like working with these parts. I tend to view them as homemade
found objects. As they sit on my shelves with seemingly disparate parts, some of
these parts start to dialogue with each other and new ideas emerge. This gives a
lot of crossover between my pieces as distinct parts get used in various pieces.
My pieces revolve around ideas that both intrigue and befuddle me. While
these pieces ask a lot of questions, they attempt to answer none. They simply
serve as a way to contain and continue a dialogue. At the nucleus of each sculpture
is an idea around which the piece grows, in a sense, the way a grain of sand
aggravates the oyster enough that it creates a pearl."
