Artist Mission & Statement
For me, making glass is an addiction and a need: the experience of physically making is so fulfilling to me that I very much doubt my ability to live without it; in my daily life I see where peaceful, striking objects that are well within my ability to create would have a great impact on the people around me.
Being near to and involved with the forensic DNA identification field for most of my life is what made me accept my odd addiction and embrace my need. Being aware of genetics has allowed me to watch it develop and its visual patterns change as the essence of the word human is defined. Patterns I see throughout my day remind me of the coding I observed as a child. "This identifies me? This makes me different from you?" This vast, molecular world dancing inside my body, keeping me alive, making me a unique sculpture of the human form is a constant source of amazement and inspiration. I have also been fortunate to witness the incredible dedication of the professionals who work in that field: dealing daily with evidence that is the result of the worst natural disasters and of the cruelest human behavior under the worst of circumstances...
… and that experience, of working daily with such incredible people, who so appreciate the peace and joy my glass work can bring to their lives, has provided me a way to focus my addiction and my need into a passion. The pleasure of working with people to build something unique and custom just for them is immeasurable. Especially in this day and age of mass production and construction, I appreciate my ability to create something distinctive all the more. There is nothing but sheer delight in knowing that my work has made someone's personal space more brilliant, more beautiful, more comforting. Especially when that someone may have spent their day slogging through the misery of others, attempting to bring some measure of harmony and relief to those less fortunate. I am blessed to have an ability to create, but I am far more blessed by the opportunity to share it with my community.
About the Artist
McElf is a third generation glass artist who has studied creativity via glass in some form or another for her entire life. She received her BA in 2004, concentrating her studies in studio art glass methods and glass history. In addition, she has also studied extensively at Pilchuck Glass School, the Corning Museum of Glass, and Vitrum Glass Studio. McElf is a founder and board member of Artful Dimensions sculpture gallery, and is a member of the National Capital Art Glass Guild.
McElf is also greatly involved in the forensic community: committed to providing service to those who work so tirelessly in the face of the most violent circumstances, both man-made and natural. With a core group of like-minded individuals, McElf is dedicated to making a forensic service community like "Prepare to be Identified" a reality. Focusing her particular talents to those ends is what provides her the ultimate fulfillment.
Click here for McElf's Curriculum Vitae
