Image courtesy of Toots Zynsky.

Toots Zynsky

American artist Toots Zynsky studied glass with Dale Chihuly at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and at Pilchuck Glass School, which she helped build during its first summers of existence. She earned her BFA from RISD in 1973 and served as assistant director of the New York Experimental Glass Workshop (now UrbanGlass) from 1980 until 1983, when she moved to Europe. There, she collaborated with Dutch inventor Mathijs Teunissen van Manen to develop and perfect the special machinery used in the process she calls filet-de-verre. This distinctive technique, for which she is known, consists of fusing and thermo-forming vessels out of thousands of pulled colored glass threads. Zynsky’s studio is in Providence, Rhode Island, where she has been based since 1999.

Works

Untitled from Tierra Del Fuego Series, 1987. Filet-de-Verre fused and thermo formed colored glass threads. Image courtesy of Toots Zynsky Studio.

Ascesa, 2019. Filet-de-Verre fused and thermo formed colored glass threads. Image courtesy of Toots Zynsky Studio.

Gouldian Finches (verso), from Endangered Species series, 2020. Filet-de-Verre Fused and thermo formed colored glass threads. Image courtesy of Toots Zynsky Studio.

Media