Intersection of Art and Industry

James Friedberg and Gabriella Giungato (Milan, Italy)

Glass

James Friedberg had his first opportunity to work with glass at the age of 22. The transparency and the primordial nature of glass caught James’ attention from an early age. In 1999 James began a part time glass apprenticeship in Boulder, Co. Six months after starting his apprenticeship he quit his day job (waiting tables) and made a full-time commitment to glass. During his early years he studied with Joe Cariati, Boyd Sugiki, Karen Willenbrink-Johnson, and Cesare Toffolo. To study with these masters he attended the Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuck, and the Pittsburgh Glass Center. His desire to learn brought him to California College of Arts where he graduated in 2007, BFA. After college he settled in San Francisco, CA where he has developed a line of work including bowls, vases, sculpture, and lighting design. When Friedberg makes glass he combines the ancient practice of glass blowing with modern design and sculptural principals. He has worked for and with various artists and designers creating custom work and assisting in the creation and installation of their work.

Gabriella Giungato is a creative architect with a wide range of technical experience. She has worked passionately in various fields within the profession for almost 20 years, with specific attention to public spaces and the experience of the final user. Giungato constantly studies new approaches for embracing sustainability and wellbeing in projects. She has an extensive background in design, quality, technical knowledge and management of complex projects and is extremely detail oriented in her work.

Felicity Machado (Poughkeepsie, NY)

Glass and Multimedia

Felicity Machado is a multimedia artist whose work contemplates the information gleaned from site-specific ecologies and technology. Drawing upon her multicultural lens, as a Brazilian-Mexican-American, she utilizes multiple visual, linguistic, and data-driven/digital perspectives to create her work. These perspectives take the form of videos, installations, sculptures, and performances. Machado received her MFA in Sculpture Dimensional Studies from Alfred University and her BA from the University of California Davis. Machado has shown work internationally at Dongduk Art Gallery, South Korea, 2020, and nationally at Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, NY, 2022, Turner Gallery, NY 2021, The Basement Gallery, CA 2019, UCLA Broad Art Center Sculpture Gallery, CA, 2017 as well as Pete & Susan Barrett Gallery, CA 2016.

Felicity Machado has won awards such as the Freemon Gadberry Award in Sculpture and the Maria Cary Anti-Gravity Award 2019 and 2020 from the University of California Davis. Others include The President’s Circle and The Clinton & Margo Ternstrom Family Art Endowment Award 2017 and 2018 from Santa Monica College. As well as the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship 2015. Felicity Machado was a Yale Norfolk 2019 Waitlist Candidate and a recipient of the 2022 Chautauqua School of Art Residency in Chautauqua, NY.

Molly Burke and Nathan Gorgen (Cincinnati, OH)

Glass, non-traditional material, and recycled material

Molly Jo Burke, b. 1984, is a Cincinnati, Ohio based artist and educator. She creates artwork examining details of our environment and repetition of forms throughout various ecosystems using traditional and non-traditional materials. Her use of materials reflects on humanity's interactions with nature - sometimes beautiful but often destructive. Forms are inspired by cells, plants, coral, and the architecture created by living organisms. Burke received a BFA (2006) from Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD), and MFA (2009), The Ohio State University (OSU), in 2019 she accepted the Barnett Fellowship from OSU’s Arts Administration Education and Policy Program to pursue her PhD. She has taught at OSU, CCAD, and Corning Museum of Glass. Her work has been featured most recently at Toledo Museum of Art, Columbus Museum of Art, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France.

Nathan Gorgen, b. 1986, is a Cincinnati, Ohio based artist and educator. His artwork explores the space between art and design, as well as digital and traditional fabrication and recycled materials. This manifests as objects on a continuum between furniture and sculpture with varying levels of functionality. Gorgen received his BFA(2008) in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and his MFA(2012) from the Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD). After graduation he worked in exhibition design and manufacturing before becoming the Lab Supervisor at the Studios for Art and Design Research at The Ohio State University (OSU) and then a Groundfloor Makerspace Technician at the University of Cincinnati. Gorgen has also taught at CCAD and OSU, and exhibited his work around the country, including at the Toledo Museum of Art, Inlight Richmond, and the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art.

Gabriel Peña (Montreal, Quebec)

Glass and Architecture

Gabriel Peña Tijerina is an artist, architect, and lecturer. His research and practice explore the intersection between design and the immaterial effects produced through light and glass properties to reproduce memories and experiences as atmospheres. Gabriel holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, a master’s degree from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and a PhD from Concordia University, Montreal. Gabriel’s contributions have been recognized with several honors and fellowships, including the MITACS Globalink Research Award and the Italian Technology Award for Glass Technology. He also received grants including the Conacyt Doctoral Grant and FONCA Young Creators. Gabriel has lectured at prestigious institutions worldwide and exhibited at venues such as the Bienal FEMSA XXI and Espacio Cultural Mexico Montreal. Additionally, he has served as a lecturer at College Lasalle, Montreal and Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) – CRGS, Mexico.

Matthew Hutchinson (Kent, Ohio)

Glass and Architecture

As an architect, educator, and maker, Matt Hutchinson believes in the reciprocal relationship between designing and making. Interest in the potentials for convergence between traditional technique and digital process inform his own architecture and design practice – PATH where material and fabrication experiments are the core working method. Recently relocated from California where he was a resident in Autodesk’s Pier 9 AiR program and an adjunct faculty at the California College of the Arts, Matt is now an Assistant Professor at the Kent State College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

Davin Ebanks (Kent, Ohio)

Glass and Sculpture

Davin K. Ebanks (he/him) is a Caribbean-American sculptor from the Cayman Islands whose work explores his cultural history. He has shown his work at SOFA Chicago, CONTEXT Miami, The Sculpture Center in Ohio, and The Delaware Contemporary. His sculptures are in the collections of His Royal Highness, King Charles, the National Gallery of Cayman, and the Kerry & Betty C Davis Collection of African American Art. Davin’s work has been published in A-Z of Caribbean Art, a multi-national survey of contemporary Caribbean artists and been included in the multinational online exhibition Banana Craze, published by the Universidad de los Andes. Ebanks is currently Associate Professor (Head) of Glass at Kent State University.

Previous Intersection Artists

2022

Brian Corr

Alexander Rosenberg

Chuchen Song

2020 & 2021

Jason Bauer

Carrie Iverson

Helen Lee and Alice Chau

Dylan Palmer

Nate Ricciuto

Kristine Rumma

2019

Zac Weinberg

Sean Merchant

Alibi Studio