Laura Donefer
Laura Donefer
Artist processes
For the past three decades, my challenge as an artist has been to look past the surface shine with its intrinsic beauty, and use glass to explore ideas concerning memory, assault, bereavement, joy, and madness. My work begins as an emotional response to a specific situation that deeply affects me. I then experimented with how to treat the glass to best illustrate my reaction. Many of the pieces created, from the early “Witchpot” series to the latest installation, “Shields to Ward off Madness,” also contain diverse materials to compliment the glass components, and this combination of ingredients adds to the power of the work. The exception is the “Amulet Basket” series, initiated after 9/11 with their joy-inducing blasts of color. Here, I use the clout commanded by the strength of the glass palette to reinforce a spirit of joie de vivre in people’s lives. Throughout my career, I have attempted to produce heartfelt work with an unbridled passion, seeking to push past the boundaries of traditional glassmaking. With whatever series I am working on, I am seeking to communicate my inner core with the rest of the world. – Laura Donefer
Laura Donefer has been using glass as her primary medium for more than thirty four years, often in combination with diverse materials. Known for her innovative, colorful blown glass and flame worked “Amulet Baskets”, she also pushes the boundaries with work that explores ideas concerning memory, assault, bereavement, joy and madness. In demand as an exciting teacher, Laura has taught workshops and given lectures worldwide, including Japan, the United States, and Australia. Her work is many public and private collections, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, and the Museum of Fine Art in Montreal to name but a few. Laura has been honoured with many awards, among them the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Glass Art Association of Canada, the prestigious “Honorary Membership Award” from the Glass Art Society, for her dedication to the glass community at large, and the International Flameworking Award for “extraordinary contributions to the glass art world.” Every few years Laura organizes one of her wacky, exuberant Glass Fashion Shows, a fantastical spectacle for the international glass community to enjoy. Laura lives in the wilds of Ontario, Canada, and in her spare time grows kale, hangs out with her husband and her dachshund, and kayaks the nearby waterways, loving and living her life to the fullest!
•Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, NY
•Glasmuseum Alter Hof, Herding, Germany
•Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA.
•Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA.
•Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
•Barry Art Museum, Norfolk, VA.
•Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
•Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, WI.
•Barbara and Richard Basch Collection, Ringling College, Sarasota, FL.
•The Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL.
•Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, FL.
•Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY.
•Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA.
•Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI.
•Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL.
•Flint Institute of the Arts, Flint, MI.
•Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY.
•Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY.
•Tacoma Museum of Glass, Tacoma. WA.
•Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH.
•Musee National Des Beaux Arts Du Quebec, Quebec
•Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, PQ.
•Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, PQ.
•Claridge Collection, Montreal, PQ
•Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery Collection, Waterloo, ON.
•Skydome Glass Collection, Toronto, ON.
•Pilchuck Permanent Collection, Stanwood, WA.
•Museo del Vidrio, Monterrey, Mexico.
•Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, WI.
•Whitco Corporation, CT.
•Espace Verre Permanent Collection, Montreal, PQ.
•OCC Permanent Collection.
•Indusmin, Toronto, ON.
