Following a rigorous and competitive jurying process with over 30 nominees, GAS is excited to announce the recipients of the 2024 Saxe Emerging Artist Award. Established by Dorothy and George Saxe, this annual award recognizes emerging talent in the glass community. Recipients receive a cash award, lecture at the Annual GAS Conference, and have their work featured in an online exhibition and catalog. The recipients of the 2024 Saxe Emerging Artist Award are Priscilla Kar Yee Lo, Sadhbh Mowlds, and Abegael Uffelman.
“The Saxe Emerging Artist Award honors the legacy of Studio Glass collectors Dorothy and the late George Saxe, who sought to support emerging artists through their collection and now through their support of this award,” said Brandi P. Clark, executive director at GAS, “Each of this year’s recipients combines new techniques, new ways of thinking, and new ways of working to shed light on important contemporary issues and to advance the medium of glass. Their work represents the very best of the future of glass. We are honored to recognize these artists at this pivotal moment in their careers and are excited to see how they will use this platform.”
Priscilla Kar Yee Lo
Growing up as a Chinese immigrant taught Priscilla that success equals assimilation and stability. After years as a healthcare worker, where she experienced the blunt reality of the intersectionality of race and gender, she felt disheartened and turned to artistic endeavors to find a voice and explore her identity as a minority. She was drawn to glass for its duality, constantly existing in a state of fragility and permanency. She has a Bachelor’s in Craft and Design from Sheridan College and a Master of Fine Arts from Illinois State University. Priscilla is currently the Resident Artist at Rochester Institute of Technology.
“By employing pop culture icons [like Hello Kitty] that are rooted in systemic patriarchy to highlight the intersectionality of being a minority female, I hope to advance this changing reality. I view this as an act of defiance, taking back a symbol of oppression to create a counter-narrative that serves to empower Asian females. Ultimately, I view my work as a nostalgic and whimsical, yet mischievous way of documenting where women, particularly immigrant women, are placed within a societally-prescribed racial framework,” says Priscilla about her work.
Sadhbh Mowlds
Sadhbh Mowlds is a visual artist who was born and raised in Dublin. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts from the National College of Art and Design, Ireland (2014), she moved to Germany, where she worked as a freelance glassblower out of Berlin Glas. In 2019, she moved to the USA, where she received her Master of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2022). Recent residencies include the RHA (Dublin, IE), WheatonArts (NJ), and STARworks (NC). Sadhbh has participated in numerous international exhibitions, showing throughout Europe and the USA. Her work is included in the permanent collections of Kunstsammulungen Coburg, Germany, and the Museum of American Glass, NJ.
When asked about her work, Sadhbh said, “Using the body as an emissary, I probe the delicate boundary between our internal and external self, describing the impact societal perceptions of gender roles, value systems, and class divides have on our suffering consciousness. This investigation culminates in bizarre, bodily sculptures that emphasize the restrictive bond we have with our flesh and the social situations that come along with it.”
Abegael Uffelman
Abegael Uffelman earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in 2019. Her work has been featured and awarded at Bullseye Glass Transitions in Kiln-Glass Exhibition, where she earned first place in the emerging artist category, and the Glass Art Society International Student Exhibition in 2019. Uffelman has been a Visiting Artist at Tyler School of Art and Worcester Center for Craft. In 2023, she completed the Better Together Residency at Pilchuck Glass School. Currently, Uffelman is the program coordinator and an instructor at the non-profit organization Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Art in Minneapolis, MN.
In describing her work, Abegael stated, “I strive to understand the relationships and connections between others, both intimate and fleeting. Growing up as a transracial Asian adoptee in a White family has impacted my life in a profound way. My work is a comment on situations my family and I have faced in American society – from personal reflection into adoption records to racial microaggressions.”
This year’s Saxe Emerging Artist Award was juried by:
- Mikkel Elming, director of Glas – Museum of Glass Art in Ebeltoft, Denmark
- Dr. Jörg Garbrecht, director of The Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung
- Luisa Restrepo, independent artist
Priscilla, Sadhbh, and Abegael will be presenting their work in a lecture at the Berlin 2024 Conference on May 18, 2024. Please note: their lectures will address topics that some listeners may find challenging, and we advise attendees to use their discretion in attending this lecture. In addition to their lecture, the 2024 Saxe Emerging Artists will be featured in a virtual exhibition and catalog that will be published this summer.