Biography

Evan Schauss (1985- )

Evan Schauss was born in Tacoma Washington on March 16 1985. He gained an appreciation for the arts at an early age. “I knew I wanted to blow glass for the rest of my life on the car ride to my first class,” he says. That was in March of 1998; he was in seventh grade and found where he belonged. One of the Hilltop staff members, Mrs. Joyce, dubbed him a Mad Scientists of Glass. The name lives on; Evan has never stopped pushing his skills and knowledge to the limits. He brings techniques from Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, and the new Mecca of glass- Seattle, Washington together as a young edgy artist’s commenting on the times we live in.

Evan has been working in glass for nearly eleven years. He began at Jason Lee Middle School in the Hilltop Artists in Residence after school glass blowing program (1998-1999), and then worked for the Hilltop artists’ production team at Wilson High School (1999-2002). In June of 2002 Evan began a summer internship for Martin Blank that turned into a gaffing job six years later. Evan also worked for the GlassHouse in Seattle, Washington in 2002 and is now their Lead Gaffer.

Between 1999 and 2006 Evan worked on a glass studio in his father’s garage. It was a studio that was seven years in the making when he finally finished. The work that came out was his Footprint Series. This work is his reflection on the journey of becoming an artist and speaks about the human need to leave a mark on society, and to feel importance. This work was a starting point for a more serious pursuit of a life in conquest of finding true meaning in his art.

Evan has also had an extreme interest in the functionality of glass blowing equipment. Evan, along with Todd Eugene, designed an all-in-one glass blowing studio in the summer of 2003. Although their working relationship ultimately split in December of 2003 Evan continued the research and has made several all-in-one studios that use less than twenty pounds of propane in over a eight hour working day and uses a small solar panel to run electrically. Evans “Shop in a Box” uses stored heat energy to anneal the glass at night and is completely portable. His unique ideas about redesigning equipment to meet our current energy situation have triggered others to find ways to reduce the carbon footprint glass blowing leaves.

Currently Evan works in a new studio he has built in his garage in Seattle, Washington. His still works for Martin Blank as a gaffer and the Glass House as a gaffer.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Working with glass has been the focus of my life for more then ten years. I use the material to create the pictures I see in my head. Some of my ideas tell stories of life today, others are images whose meanings unfold to me during the creating process and are translated into glass.
Much of my work is unconventional. The use of custom tools and equipment to create the end goal is important in maintaining the originality of my work. And it also makes the process new and exciting for my team and I, which is essential for making good art.
Making art, especially out of glass, is my passion.