EVOLUTION 2025
A Showcase of Emerging, International Talent
GAS STUDENT EXHIBITION
EVOLUTION 2025: A Showcase of Emerging, International Talent celebrates the next generation of glass artists as they explore, experiment, and redefine the medium. Featuring work by students from around the world, this exhibition highlights fresh perspectives, bold ideas, and the evolving techniques shaping the future of glass art.
Glass is a material of transformation—malleable in its making, yet enduring in its final form. Through this lens, these emerging artists navigate themes of change, identity, and innovation, pushing the boundaries of tradition while forging new creative paths. EVOLUTION 2025 is a testament to the ingenuity and vision of the next wave of glassmakers, offering a glimpse into what’s to come.
Winners
First Place | “Crown of Glass: Yang Guifei” by Nancy Yu
United States
This delicate glass headdress addresses the psychological burden felt by a third culture person with Chinese heritage, battling a sense of displacement and loss of identity. When worn, the headdress’ mass barely registers physically but a psychological weight is felt. The body stiffens from the fear of it toppling over and falling into a thousand irreparable pieces. It is as though there is a phantom sitting above the wearer’s head, maybe the ghost of Yang Guifei whose Chinese Opera headdress the glass crown was inspired by.
Second Place | “DOUBLE” by Justyna Dżaman
Poland
Goblets were created in response to an assignment during the First International Student Glass Symposium in Kokava nad Rimavicou (Slovakia).
Designing the glasses, I relied on an intuitive approach, based on geometric shapes and axes of symmetry. To be honest, I didn’t plan for them to be double-sided. It was only during the process of refining the desired shape and working on the proportions that this concept emerged—and, as it turns out, quite successfully!
This playful experiment significantly broadened my perspective on design and allowed me to gain more freedom in my work. It was undoubtedly a creative, insightful process.
Third Place (Tie) | “Spoon Theory” by Asha Ramirez
United States
Inspired by “The Spoon Theory”, an essay written by Christine Miserandino, using spoons as a metaphor for energy, to explain how people with chronic illness and disabilities possess less energy and must spend more to complete everyday tasks. Hanging crystal spoons represent the fragility of my body as I maintain balance between my creative drive and physical limitations from fibromyalgia and chronic pain. The broken spoons beneath signify times I have pushed myself too far, resulting in a broken body. Together, they are a reminder that rest is important in order to rejuvenate the body and soul.
Third Place (Tie) | “The Fawn that will Always be Loved” by Michelle Pokorny
United States
I have an appreciation for our natural ecosystem and a concern for our environmental issues. I believe that curiosity is sparked through discovery, exploration, and research. Blending art and nature allows me to write visual poetic sculptures that embody concern and curiosity. The completion of these pieces relies on the viewer’s interpretation, encouraging them to engage in their own research and discovery. Glass has its very own visual language of being fragile, strong, and transparent giving the work more depth. The poetic visuals allow metaphors to take light and guide the
viewer to different interpretations of nature.
Gallery
Jurors
Noemi Nieves-Hoblin | 2024 GAS Student Exhibition Winner
Noemi Nieves-Hoblin is a Philadelphia based artist who began working in glass at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, where she received her Bachelor Of Fine Arts in glass in 2024. Her work utilizes glass as a canvas for narrative sculpture, inspired by personal mythopoetic stories that are passed down orally. She uses glassblowing, flameworking and stained-glass processes to create work that references the natural world and familial histories.
Barbara Kittrell | Co-Founder + Owner of Kittrell Riffkind Art Glass
Barbara Kittrell has been involved in the glass community for 45 years as a maker, curator, gallerist, and collector. She and her husband, David, started their custom architectural flat glass business in 1980. In 1990 they founded Kittrell Riffkind Art Glass, along with their partner Michael Riffkind. The gallery has grown and evolved over the years, offering outstanding and innovative art glass from established and emerging artists nationwide to the North Texas market and beyond. After several moves and the retirement of Michael in 2014, the gallery has merged with Southwest Gallery and continues to thrive in its new shared space with their fine art sister gallery.
Jeroen Maes | Artistic Director, Tideline Studio
Jeroen Maes (b. 1977), trained as a glass researcher, maker and restorer, was one of the founders of the glass museum GlazenHuis in Lommel, Belgium, in 2007. There he curated more than 35 international exhibitions that confronted contemporary art and design with historical glass. In addition to his position as artistic director, since 2018 he has focused on his personal creations under the name Tideline. He developed a modular framework with colorful blown glass elements to turn them into light objects or installations.