Thaddeus Wolfe creates improvisational glass sculptures and lighting meant to evoke decaying, collapsing surfaces and fantastical imagined structures. These “Assemblage” pieces take their inspiration broadly from art and architectural movements of the early 20th century- Cubism, Art Deco and Czech Cubist architecture, in particular. Wolfe’s works seek not only to forge a link between our current time and these past styles and ideas, but also to express the disorientation and disjointedness of modern existence.
Each of Wolfe’s works is a blown-glass cast. He fabricates his own molds as part of a unique process that permits the glass to form into angular, highly textured shapes that would not otherwise be possible in the material. Once the objects have been removed from their molds, Wolfe polishes certain surfaces and grinds away layers of color to achieve the desired texture, translucence, and reflectivity necessary to complete the sculpture.
Born and raised in the “Glass City”—Toledo, OH—Wolfe studied glass at the Cleveland Institute of Art, graduating with a BFA in 2002. Wolfe has held residencies at Pilchuck Glass School (Stanwood, WA), Creative Glass Center of America (Millville, NJ), and Museum of Glass (Tacoma, WA). After years of working under esteemed artists and glassmakers in New York City, including Josiah McElheny, Wolfe established his own studio practice in 2009. His work is represented by R+ Company (New York City) and Volume Gallery (Chicago). In addition to private collections, Wolfe's work is in the permanent collections of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass, where he was awarded the 2016 Rakow Commission.
Wolfe lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
