"If I am not alone with glass in my studio, I am working with it in a classroom with students. The material is always there... I don’t approach making from a need to sell direction. I’m making it to be enjoyed and am grateful when people are moved to own it.”

Nathan Sandberg is an artist and educator based in Portland, Oregon, USA. From OnGrade Studio he produces work for exhibitions and develops fresh curriculum in kiln-glass. He has established himself as one of the top kiln-glass educators of the day and his artwork can be found in collections worldwide.


Tell us about yourself and your background.
Curiosity about materials and processes has driven me since before I was aware of it.  I’m 41 years old and can remember a time when I was a youngster, digging clay out of the banks of Lake Erie and firing it adjacent to a campfire. During middle school, I would attend summer sessions at the local community college to learn about computers and ceramics. In High School I hung out in the darkroom and poked around in trays of chemicals developing photographs. This early behavior continued through college where I eventually earned a BFA in Glass and Ceramics, with a good understanding ofphotography, from the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. After a few years working as a full-time glassblower I took a job in the Research & Education department at Bullseye Glass Company where I investigated the materials we were producing as well as developed curriculum to teach.

"I’m inspired by the built environment both for what it looks like and what it represents. I can’t help but pay attention to the fine details of how our world is connected."

​Tell us about your work and style, why it is unique?
I have experience with a variety of glass-working disciplines and am able to draw on all of them for any given project. 
​I routinely take what I know about glassblowing and translate it to kiln-glass. This works well in reverse too, and helps my work stand out. Making unique work is important to me and is sometimes challenging when you consider that glassmakers have been sharing a set of very old techniques seemingly forever.
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Tell us about your process and what do you feel when you are creating?
For better or worse, I have many ideas and projects in process at the same time. If I am not alone with glass in my studio, I am working with it in a classroom with students. The material is always there. Once the beginning of an idea has formed, and it could come from anywhere, I need to at least poke at it immediately. I’ll run a test, make a sample, perhaps a foam model or even a list of words, but rarely a drawing and rarely do I want to know exactly what the work will look like before it is finished. That develops during the process of making, and is the exciting part. I don’t approach making from a need to sell direction. I’m making it to be enjoyed and am grateful when people are moved to own it.

"I am captivated by the accidental arrangements of form, color and surface that exist in our built environments."

What are your sources of inspiration?
I’m inspired by hardworking people with original ideas that are dedicated to their craft and those who have come before me and managed to make amazing objects of glass, clay and metal thousands of years ago. I’m inspired by the built environment both for what it looks like and what it represents.  I can’t help but pay attention to the fine details of how our world is connected.

Why are you attracted to glass?
I’m honestly not sure I have a choice in the matter. We get along really well. The history of glass and its modern connection, as a material, to science, industry AND art is very intriguing and inspiring to me.

"My greatest achievement has to be the fact that I have managed to build a recognizable career on and around glass."
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Tell us about some of your achievements.
My greatest achievement has to be the fact that I have managed to build a recognizable career on and around glass. I am very proud of the fact that I have a studio to create and teach in, a house to live in, and a somewhat stable domestic life that includes a supportive, loving wife who is an artist.

Tell us about some of the themes you have explored.
As an observant person I am captivated by the accidental arrangements of form, color and surface that exist within our built environment. While making works in kiln-glass to celebrate these mundane details I started thinking about making work that could potentially cheer people up or at least distract them from their personal situation for a few minutes and give them a bit of relief. So, I began drawing from the acute understanding of glass that I had been building. I started exploiting some of the more formal, seductive qualities of the material. I also started thinking practically about HOW people live with what I create.

"I’m passionate about decency and equal rights and opportunities for everyone. I’m also passionate about working hard with my hands and doing the best I can no matter what the job is."

What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about decency and equal rights and opportunities for everyone. I’m also passionate about working hard with my hands and doing the best I can no matter what the job is. I’m equally passionate about being innovative and never feeling like my ideas came from someone/somewhere else. I also like growing vegetables.

Tell us about some of the feedback you typically receive.
Regular feedback includes complimenting me on original designs and appearances, an elevated degree of craftsmanship, and a good understanding of color. For a while, I always heard that my glasswork looked more like other materials than glass. This was never an objective of mine but was something that I believe came from having a near simultaneous experience in art school learning about glass and ceramics.

"Conceptually, I’m interested in questioning what naturally occurring means. I also learned that apparently there are no right angles in nature and that seems like fertile ground for exploration ripe with potential content."

What are you currently working on?
I am currently focused on fortifying and sustaining my studio practice while I figure out how it fits in the modern world.
I think I realized fairly recently that this is my career and our lifestyle all in one. I like the challenges and variety that comes with living as an artist. On any given day I could find myself wearing a wide range of hats, sometimes all at once. Some that fit well, some that I’m excited to try on, and some that I can’t believe I even own!

What can we look forward to in the future – what directions will you be exploring?
I had an exhibition in early 2019 that was a significant change of direction for me and I’ve been busy with other projects since then. I’d like to spend some time with what remains of that, very formal, work and let it evolve a bit. Conceptually, I’m interested in questioning what naturally occurring means. I also learned that apparently there are no right angles in nature and that seems like fertile ground for exploration ripe with potential content.

Tell us about your location and its influence on your work?
While I don’t knowingly refer to it in my work, the natural landscape here is amazing. The thing about this location that I do think informs my work is the large number of creative people trying to do something similar. The strong sense of innovation, making, creating, growing and building that exists in this region is energizing.

"I think the world needs more one-off, unique instances of beauty rather than mass produced attempts.
​I want my work to be visually interesting enough to catch a viewer and hold them for a minute or two.
​I’d like to enhance their life on some level."

How do you feel about art and its role?
I wish more people could appreciate art, and live with it. Art is more important now than ever in the world. Somewhere within the topic of art lives beauty, which the world absolutely needs more of. The idea that most art doesn’t do anything and is expensive, and takes up space stands in the way of many people being able to live with it. That said, people need to be able to take the time to appreciate it. Many of us are handcuffed by the struggle to simply survive that we never get to enjoy anything authentic anymore. Art should give us a chance to relax, take a break, think and escape…dream.

How you want your art to affect the world?
I think the world needs more one-off, unique instances of beauty rather than mass produced attempts. I want my work to be visually interesting enough to catch a viewer and hold them for a minute or two. I’d like to enhance their life on some level. Maybe this momentary instance of beauty brings a bit of joy to their day. Maybe it teaches something that broadens their understanding of the world. Maybe I can even spark their curiosity enough to inspire them to go out and begin creating something. From another perspective. I am aware of the resources and energy that go into glass production and how it contributes to climate change. There is also the fact that what I make is going to be on the planet forever. While quality has always come before quantity, I do feel as if I could make fewer things and still feel satiated.


www.nathansandberg.com