Jose Chardiet received his MFA from Kent State University, where he was the Artist in Residence in 1985. He has taught at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts, and the Haystack School of Crafts, and served as Professor of Glass and Sculpture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has received fellowships from the Institute of International Education, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Creative Glass Center of America.

Jose’s work can be seen in private and public collections, including those of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Art Museum, the American Craft Museum in New York, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Yokohama Museum of Art in Japan, and the Musee des Arts Decoratif in Laausanne, Switzerland.

“My most recent research has focused primarily on designing and making glass sculptures using blowing and casting processes. Drawing from topics as diverse as Spanish still-life painting, woodwind instruments, and African art, my goal is to create sculptures imbued with a spiritual and inner life. Using the natural transparency and translucency of the material allows the viewer to look beyond the surface, to get to the core or soul of the sculpture.”