Jason McDonald
MEDIATORS
© Jason McDonald.
Jason McDonald’s contemporary glass practice explores the boundaries imposed by the material, his
skills, and society. With a passion for sixteenth-century Venetian furnace techniques, such as stem-working and caneworking, he meticulously crafts elegant goblets and chalices in a virtuosic pursuit. However, he also makes sculptures to reflect on his lived experience as a Black man in the United States. As an artist and educator, he advocates for making the field of studio glass, which has historically been dominated by white artists, more accessible to diverse communities. He travels nationally to do workshops and was a contestant on the second season of Netflix’s competition series Blown Away. Through his practice, McDonald is doing away with gatekeeping.
His work is purposely ornamental to lure people in for a closer look. His large-scale iron- work gates, adorned with delicate flourishes of transparent and white glass canes, break the illusion of protection. Instead, they underscore the fragility and futility of traditional structures and systems that deny access to specific groups of people. These objects symbolize McDonald taking control over his destiny as a maker while opening the door for others to work with glass.
B. 1984, Tacoma, WA
Lives and works in Tacoma, WA
SM9713
Inclusion, 2021, Glass. 12" H x 9" W x 6" D. Courtesy of the artist, photography by R & Company.