Kate Clements
Kate Clements explores the precarity of our environment through kiln-fused glass, a medium that captures the simultaneous vulnerability and seduction of the natural world. Learn more about her practice below.
Where are you from and where do you reside?
I was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and currently reside in Kansas City, Missouri.
What necessities do you require when making your art (radio, specific materials/facilities, etc.)?
The most important equipment in my studio are my kilns. The work is just glass dust until it is fired and fused together. I currently have two kilns in my studio, but given infinite resources I would love to have more. It expedites the making process if I can make multiple parts each day.
The second most important tool would be the walls. I pin everything to the wall with clear tacks to figure out the installation and composition of a piece. I’ve had studios with walls that were smaller than the work and had to see only segments of a piece at a time (not ideal!). Now, I’m fortunate to have a large space through a residency at Studios Inc that allows for me to step back to see multiple pieces grow and respond to each other at the same time.
I also need music. I like to be plugged in with headphones. I can feel the work's fragility in my hand so I know its limits, but sometimes the noise or rattling of the work can be unnerving and I choose to drown it out!
Have you always worked with glass? Why do you choose to work with it?
I started working with frit about 15 years ago. Initially, I was doing a lot of firings without really adjusting them to work for me, they were fired too low and were extremely fragile or too high and became overly distorted. Over the years I’ve become more methodical and technical with each piece. It allows me to learn something new from the work regularly which I think is so important– to maintain a curiosity. I keep wanting to push it. Push scale, push fragility, push the concepts behind the work.
I see glass as a metaphor for the precarious nature of life. There’s always a chance for things to break, shatter, shift.
Kate Clements
I see glass as a metaphor for the precarious nature of life. There’s always a chance for things to break, shatter, shift. Impermanence has become an ever-present undertone throughout my work - a nervous tension. I utilize glass’ seductive qualities, its crystalline luminosity, to lure the viewer in. It's only once the material reveals itself does the anxiety surface, it's an interesting power shift between the artwork and the viewer. What originally felt so approachable now demands that the viewer adjust how they hold themselves in that space.
What is the most difficult part of the artistic process for you?
The packing and shipping of the work. Because it is fragile and has so many parts it takes a lot of time and labor to properly map and pack it. It's when the creative play is done and it's down to practical and logistical problem-solving. Sometimes it takes longer to map the work out than it did to physically make it, and that can be draining. I’ll take a good amount of time mapping out the work on the wall. Tracing each part, marking where the nail holes/hardware to hang the work goes. Everything is outlined and numbered both on a map and on the foam trays the work gets shipped on. This ensures that the work can be installed the same each time, regardless of the location. While it is labor intensive in the studio, I’m never mad at myself when I get to install day and everything is very clearly marked out and nothing is broken. So although it may feel less rewarding in the moment, it may be the most crucial part to get right.
How do you choose your materials?
In some ways I feel like glass chose me. I was introduced to working with it by chance as a young art student. I continued working with it throughout my undergraduate degree while I was majoring in painting. It wasn’t until after I left school and lost access to the glass facilities that I realized, “Oh no - I think it's glass!” From there, I applied to glass graduate programs -even though I didn’t have a BFA in it. I haven’t looked back since. The way it feels in my hand and how I can manipulate it to translate so many different emotions. I’ve never felt that with any other material.
Impermanence has become an ever-present undertone throughout my work - a nervous tension.
Kate Clements
How has your work developed in the past few years, and how do you see it evolving in the future?
The thing that I’ve realized and I’m most excited about is though it's the same material and technique with the kiln firing process- it can be so many things. The glass parts become painting, installation, sculpture. It feels very refreshing to be able to dip into different realms while having this consistent through line, like there are limitless possibilities, which makes it feel possible to build out really ambitious exhibitions that become a world of my own making. It's exhilarating to be in a position where opportunities are aligning with the bigger ideas. My goal is to make the most out of each and every one of them. It's all about riding the edge of innovation, experimentation and efficiency.
When did you begin your current practice?
It started around grad school. I feel like within a studio practice sometimes you have giant leaps of innovation or breakthroughs. Before grad school I had been making glass headdresses/ small sculptures. When I arrived I had decided to take on the mentality of a snake shedding its skin. I thought I needed to abandon everything that came before. Then I got an email from Italian Vogue Gioiello requesting a crown for a fashion shoot. I was shocked and extremely grateful this happened while I was in a place with a lot of support. I had no idea how to transport the work locally let alone internationally. I was awarded a Dean’s grant to fly over to Milan with the glass crowns as carry on. I didn’t realize that before that happened how lost and insecure I was feeling in my practice at school because I didn’t have a glass background. This was an extremely validating moment for me as a young artist. I came back with a new sense of self and decided to trust my gut. I was going to keep working with glass frit because if it was innovative enough to catch the eye of people searching for something new, maybe I was on to something.
I was going to keep working with glass frit because if it was innovative enough to catch the eye of people searching for something new, maybe I was on to something.
Kate Clements
The piece I made immediately after returning was an 8-by-8 foot hanging glass lace curtain. There was no mid-sized work, just this massive curtain holding up its own weight from threads suspended from the ceiling. I now realize it was me announcing myself, like hi I’m here and I’m going to take up some space. That was the beginning of the big installations.
Describe a typical day in the studio for you.
I come in with a coffee or latte of some sort, and immediately open the kiln to see how the work from the day before was fired. This is a great way to keep me eager to come into the studio because in my mind the kiln is like a present to be opened. I don’t know if it's a good one or a bad one, but there’s always a nervous excitement that hopefully something magical happened during the firing. Then the glass panel or panels go up on the wall in relation to the others and I decide how to react to the work. What does it need? What shape or gesture responds to the work as it grows each day? Sometimes I’ll use tracing paper so I can sketch directly on the wall and then transfer that to a kiln shelf, that way I know it will nestle in just right. I allow for compositions to change drastically if I think it needs to. I’ve realized my work is very similar to collage at this point. All the parts can move around and layer over each other. It's about finding rhythm and balance within the work and because nothing is locked in there’s a lot of room for play and experimentation.
I have a large table set up in the center of my space. This is my work station where I set up my kiln shelf and frits to make the glass drawings. The tools I use are surprisingly humble- a clear plastic spoon, a rubber-tip clay tool, and a pencil. The work is quiet, even meditative. I have a lot of muscle memory at this point on how to make each flower or design. I’ll start spooning out the glass powder onto the kiln shelf. Sometimes this is really fast and intuitive, other times I’m laying out a meticulous pattern that requires a lot more concentration. I’ll go in and shape the frit with the rubber clay tool and open up the design. The glass moves in the kiln that isn’t always predictable- which is a good thing! It becomes a back and forth conversation between myself and the work and it forces me to let go of some elements of control which is refreshing, like I don’t have to make all of the decisions, sometimes something weird will happen and it’s exactly what the work needed.
Published March 26, 2025.
