Kiara Pelissier
Biography
Kiara Pelissier blowing glass
The daughter of Jaime and Serena Pelissier, Kiara, like her mother, also grew up immersed in a world of art, but with the craft element of it much more evident, as her father’s goldsmithing studio was in their house when she was small. Her manual dexterity was obvious from the start, and she was happiest when working alongside carpentry, metalsmithing or painting projects, or making projects of her own. One constantly evolving endeavor was to create small environments, indoors and out, in which she and a friend could “live.” She also loved physical expression, and spent hours as a child training in gymnastics. When she was 18, she entered her first glass hot shop, and shortly afterward took a beginning glassblowing class. She knew right away that she had found what she wanted to do “all day every day,” as she put it. An undergraduate degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and a master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as numerous workshops and assistantships with master glassblowers, have allowed her to continue mastering glass technique, and have also opened her to expression in other media and to appreciation of work from other artists and other times.
For more information on Kiara Pelissier, visit her website at www.kiarapelissier.com.