For years Carmella Jarvi was a painter, known best for her women in water paintings. In 2011, she started the transition to kiln glass. It’s no coincidence what she did during her 2010 McColl Center for residency — painting lots of abstract water — was the early work that led to glass.
Water is the root and driving passion for much of Jarvi’s art.
Using different colors/types of Bullseye Glass combined in her electric kilns, she creates what are called studio glass pieces. The artist has a line of smaller glass, plus usually has a commission/bigger project in the pipeline. She makes lots of glass prototypes, as well as work to be scaled and translated into other materials for public art applications.
After spending a few years learning kiln glass basics, she converted her painting studio to glass. The artist has multiple kilns, glass cuttng machines, a wet belt sander, and variety of other tools and equipment. She’s out creating in her glass studio nearly every day.
All of Jarvi’s glasswork has multiple firings and layers, with different cold working in between. The main goal of her work is to capture water — in an abstract form or expression. She utilizes kiln heat and gravity to move the glass, creating rich color, depth and beauty.
Whether tabletop or wall pieces, they are really paintings with glass.
In 2015, she installed her first corporate glass commission — for PricewaterhouseCoopers. This piece shows how the artist’s glass transforms a space. Since her first ArtPop glass billboard in 2014, she’s been working on scaling up her glass and moving into the public art arena.
In January 2018, the artist completed her first public art (non-ArtPop) project in South End Charlotte.
The Urban Eddy is a project where water glass rounds (based on her original water glass created in studio) were scaled up onto translucent vinyl. These were installed throughout the building’s glass windows/doors. Because the CLT Powerhouse is now an urban hub, Jarvi used this opportunity to bring up the important topic of water through her public art piece.
Whether glass, paintings, or public art, Jarvi’s work continues to grow in scale — and, is becoming more community based. Want to know more? Go to carmellajarvi.com.