24 Jul Ones to Watch: Shelley Muzylowski Allen

Glass artist Shelley Muzylowski Allen’s blown glass figures embrace the creative process while evoking a sense of playfulness as well as that of change and remembrance. 

Using familiar imagery as the basis for her work, Allen connects to the viewer using accessible vehicles for her abstractions. Delving into the rich field of “pentimento,” an alteration in a painting evidenced by traces of previous work, she conveys her responses to the material as she manipulates the glass at both the hot and cold stages. 

Recent exhibitions, both group and solo shows, include the Blue Rain Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico; William Traver Gallery, Seattle, Washington; 38th Annual International Glass Invitational, Michigan; SOFA New York, New York City, New York; and Nuutajarven Galleria Osuuskunta, Nututajarven, Finland.

Her work is collected internationally, publicly and privately. Collectors include Dale Chihuly, Seattle, Washington; Sir Elton John; Sara Morgan, Kinder Morgan, Inc., Houston, Texas; Toyama City Institute of Glass Arts Permanent Collection, Toyama, Japan; Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, Washington; Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington; Michael Dickinson, Ontario, Canada; Riverside Health Club, Burlington, Washington; Moss Adams, LLP, Bellingham, Washington; and the late Allen Ginsberg, New York City, New York.

Muzylowski Allen is represented by Blue Rain Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Baisden Gallery, Tampa, Florida; Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, Michigan; Kuivato Glass Gallery, Sedona, Arizona; PISMO Galleries, Denver and Aspen, Colorado; Thomas Riley Galleries, Cleveland, Ohio; Studio E Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida; Vetri International, Seattle, Washington; and the William Traver Gallery, Seattle, Washington.