Anna Skibska

Anna Skibska’s work sits at the intersection of sculpture, architecture, three-dimensional line drawing, and even storytelling. She uses a powerful acetylene torch to melt and stretch glass rods, creating slender and transparent threads, that are then joined to create perfectly balanced sculptures. Her signature technique, known as the Anna Skibska Technique, was developed in the early 1990s.

Skibska graduated from the Painting program at the Academy of Art in Wroclaw, Poland in 1984. She later was a professor of fine arts and architecture at the Academy of Art. In 1988, her work was selected for the respected New Glass Review journal, and the Corning Museum of Glass recommended her as an instructor at Pilchuck Glass School. She was grateful to escape the artistic isolation of communist Poland to teach at Pilchuck. Prior to immigrating to Seattle in 1996, she had already exhibited her work extensively throughout Europe and Japan. She went on to exhibit internationally, including in the Tuileries in Paris, Musee-Atelier du Verre, Museo del Vetro in Murano (coinciding with the Venice Biennale), National Museum in Wroclaw, and in a solo exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum. In 2004, the flameworking studio in Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, WA was officially named the Anna Skibska Flameworking Studio. Anna Skibska continues to be an influential artist in the Seattle art community.