Matthew Szòsz is a renowned artist and educator, celebrated for his innovative use of glass to explore the convergence of material, aesthetics, and poetic expressions. With an impressive array of international accolades and awards, including the Irvine Borowski Prize and the Jutta-Cuny Franz Prize, he has left an indelible mark on the art world. As an avid educator, he has taught at esteemed institutions worldwide and played a pivotal role in founding the Pilchuck Glass School, a non-profit public access studio in San Francisco. Learn more about Matthew and his creations in today’s Maker Monday.
The 2020 masterpiece “Study after Bruegel” intertwines cultural disquiet, existential angst, and human foibles. It radiates an entrancing yet unsettling aura, deeply influenced by the cosmic narratives of the Chicxulub and Psyche 16 asteroids.
Andrew Joseph: What’s one ingredient you put in everything?
Matthew Szòsz: The most reliable part of every project, enthusiasm or experience for me is failure. Failure is learning. Every time an experiment fails, it shows me the holes in my knowledge. Often, with a new material or process, I will deliberately push it towards failure- seeking the limits of the process, and the limits of my assumptions.
I’m always looking for the surprise, the moment of magic with a material or an action, or an experience where it reveals something to you. By their nature, those surprises are unknown unknowns – things you don’t know, and don’t know you don’t know. Failure, and repeated failure, is an essential ingredient for me.
AJ: What’s your biggest fear in life?
MS: To leave an experience on the table. As a child, I wanted to try everything, from garbage man to astronaut. The world is made of the different ways we see it, so every experience is a window into a different world, and a different version in that world. I want to try everything once, and of course the best things are those we didn’t even know were there.
It is far better to do and repent than not do and regret* and better to ask forgiveness than permission**
*Machiavelli
**Everyone.
The creation of each Euplectella is a unique event, as the unfolded piece can be neither annealed or preserved. Over the 20 minutes following its unfolding the piece slowly and musically breaks apart, in a poignant cycle of birth, growth, and decay.
AJ: What are your ideal weekend plans?
MS: My wife Anna Mlasowsky and I love to spend the weekend searching. Washington State is full of mountains, giant flora, and tide pools. It’s a library of wonder. We can spend all our daylight finding flowers, fossils, budding trees, forageable food. We never pass by roadkill without checking the condition of the skull. The wilderness is the largest free museum in the world, and crammed with masterpieces. The only downside is that it can make art practice seem irrelevant.
AJ: What guilty pleasure do you have?
MS: Cadbury cream eggs. I have a weakness for seasonal childhood candy. Halloween candy pumpkins as well. I love things that are fleeting, fragile or ephemeral. Temporary-ness makes things more special, and death gives meaning to life. It’s the knowledge that our time is limited that makes us cling to it and value experiences.
Plus, I have a huge sweet tooth.
The Inflatable Series emerges from the kiln as pre-fused glass arrangements, instantly transformed as compressed air inflates and volumizes them, capturing the moment of their creation.
AJ: What’s one thing people don’t know about you?
MS: I have a large sunburst-shaped birthmark over my heart. But it’s white on white, so it only shows up when I get sunburned. Since I grew up in New England, I didn’t even know it was there until I was a teenager.
AJ: What’s your favorite cocktail?
MS: Vodka Martini, straight. I love to go out for well-made cocktails when I can – effervescent, exotic delights – but I haven’t got the necessary time to experiment, or the library of ingredients. So, when at home, I make myself the classic stiff drink from Polish potato vodka and pretend I’m having a banker’s lunch.
It’s the hammer, I’m the nail.
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