Layo Bright has received the 2023 Ron Desmett Memorial Award for Imagination with Glass. This annual award, given by Pittsburgh Glass Center (PGC), recognizes artists who think outside of the box, practice curiosity, and take risks to create unique, imaginative works in glass. It is in honor of PGC’s late cofounder Ron Desmett who was an artist who eschewed conventions and promoted idea over technique. Bright is interested in incorporating African design techniques and symbolism into her glass sculptures, which merge her background as a Nigerian woman with the techniques of glass sculpting.
Bright is a multimedia sculptor living and working in Brooklyn, NY. She will receive a $2,500 cash award and time in PGC’s studios to create a new body of glass works that explore narratives and material cultures of the African diaspora and Black feminism. Bright plans to create figurative hollow vessel sculptures with blow molds, and face-size glass masks of family members and her close community members inspired by traditional African masks. Each piece will utilize different glass-making techniques such as casting, slumping, and fusing. The sculptures will vary in size and shape and will include intricate details such as flora and relief symbols.
Bright says: “I am interested in the properties of glass, and how this material can be used to convey themes of resilience, transparency, reflection, fragility, and transformation. One of the key features of glass that I hope to explore further and emphasize in my practice is the idea of transparency. Glass is a material that is often associated with transparency and clarity, and I believe that these qualities can be used to convey a sense of openness and opportunities for light to play an active role in the transformation of the sculptures. By creating sculptures that are multi-layered and complex, I hope to convey a sense of depth and nuance, inviting viewers to consider the many layers of meaning that can be found in each piece.”
About Layo Bright
Layo Bright’s sculptural practice explores migration, inheritance, legacy, and identity through hybrid portraits, textiles, and mixed media works that highlight natural forms and ancestral memory. Employing a range of materials such as glass, clay, wood, and textiles, these forms mirror fragile yet complex relationships with the personal, natural, and built environment.
Bright (b.1991, Lagos, Nigeria) received her LL. B (Hons.) from Babcock University, was called to the Nigerian Bar Association and received her MFA in Fine Art (Hons.) from the Parsons School of Design. Bright has exhibited work both internationally and nationally. Solo and group exhibitions include Rockhaven, moniquemeloche, Chicago, IL; The Alchemists, Johnson Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Undercurrents, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY; Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN; Bode Projects, Berlin, Germany; Phillips, New York, NY; among others. She has participated in notable art fairs including Art Basel Hong Kong 2023, EXPO Chicago 2023, Art Basel Miami Beach 2022, Future Fair 2021, etc.
Previous residencies include Tyler School of Glass, Philadelphia, PA; NXTHVN Fellowship in New Haven, CT; Triangle, Brooklyn, NY; Flux Factory, Queens, NY; The Studios at Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA; Tritryagain Studio Residency, Brooklyn, NY; International Studio Center Sculpture Residency at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township, NJ. She is the recipient of honors and awards including the UrbanGlass Winter Scholarship Award (2021/2020), the International Sculpture Center’s 2018 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award (2018), and the Beyoncé Formation Finalist Scholarship (2017). Bright lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
