Larissa Blokhuis, glass artist
Larissa was born on the great plains of Canada. She was six when she knew she was an artist. At seven, she found herself on a dock in Vancouver, watching a man paint dolphins. This painting was given to her, and now hangs in her home. At age fourteen, she took a glassblowing course. Four years later, at age eighteen, she began her BFA in glass. In 2008, at the age of twenty-two, she completed her BFA in glass at the Alberta College of Art and Design. The summer after graduating, she traveled to Murano, a world-renown glassblowing location in Italy, where she watched a man make a dolphin out of glass in thirty seconds. These are the unquestionable facts. [Read Larissa's Artist's Statement at the bottom of this page].

For more of Larissa's work, visit http://blokhuisglass.weebly.com.

Price Range: $65 - $95

Artist Statement of Larissa Blokhuis

As an artist, I deal primarily with social and environmental issues, particularly those related to water, sea creatures, and ecosystems. These topics are important for me to address with art because I feel that if I can encourage people to be interested in these topics, then those people will persuade policy-makers to deal with our social and environmental issues in a more timely manner.

Being born and raised in land-locked Calgary, people are often curious as to why I would be drawn to make oceanic art. I believe it is more difficult to visually quantify the damage being done to the sea, and therefore more urgent to call attention to it. There is great mystery and beauty in the sea, and it is worth preserving the bio-diversity. There are new creatures being discovered on a regular basis. The opportunity to learn about such strange creatures living in a world so alien to our own appeals to me greatly.

Numerous new ideas are vital to my process and my mental health. Ideas generally come before any images, and once I have an idea my image is worked around that idea. I began watching documentaries because they provide ideas quickly and cover a wide variety of topics. I watch documentaries based on my schedule rather than subject matter, so I often expose myself to points of view that differ from each other or differ from my own opinion. I believe that challenging the ideas of others begins with challenging my own ideas. I also watch and read the news as well as reading non-fiction in great abundance.

When I began compiling more information about the world, I was compelled to make art about environmental and social problems, which are all too prevalent. I started to see connecting factors in the different subjects I learned about. I am always looking for pattern, repetition, and contrast, and when I find these elements they often become the nucleus of an idea for my art.

Specific to my work in glass, my animals all contain a spontaneous element to make them more natural and genuine. Glass is appropriate because it is fragile like the animals depicted, and allows fluid lines. I work primarily with glass, but will incorporate other medias as needed. Glass is my preferred medium though, because it challenges me in terms of fabrication and sculptural concerns as they relate to concept.