Glass Artist

Biography and Artists Statement

Born and raised in the great state of Alaska, Keeper was born in Fairbanks/Nenana and later raised in Anchorage, where he graduated from West High School. There, he was introduced to ceramics and wheel throwing; this is where his obsession with craft and art would begin. After placing well in a few juried shows and receiving a few awards, it didn't take long before he set his sights on an art degree, which he attained at Alfred University, NY. Since then, Keeper has traveled to over a dozen states and territories to make glass and teach classes in an effort to perfect his craft. Today, Keeper is building his own studio in Anchorage, Alaska.

Artist's Statement:

         Glass is a full-contact sport. In the glass studio, you are working in a fast paced, hot, sweaty, and stressful environment, which takes incredible amounts of physical and mental endurance, and the glass is certainly not a forgiving material; it pushes back. My love for the glass is rooted in its kinetic nature, and I am compelled by the movement of the glass and how my movements relate to and effect the material. The glass exactly captures the environment that it was created in. Without exception, every effort, movement, and touch of the artist is frozen in time, and reflected in the final piece. It is because of this that glass has taken over my world.

         My palette consists of the densest, brightest, and most expressive complementary and contrasting colors. Colors that can compete for attention, support each other, or direct and redirect one another. So that I can focus on addressing the design, pattern, and colors within the piece, I work within a series of simple, yet similar, three-dimensional forms that I approach like canvases. I am exploring through my own physicality the limits to which I can push my medium, my design, and myself. Each one of my pieces are individually informed by my existence, and by the circumstances surrounding me during the process; remember, the final piece always captures an exact snapshot of its creation. My work serves a utilitarian purpose to me, time spent working with glass is meditation, and each and every piece is, to me, a lengthy autobiography; a moment, a day, a month, a year, or an entire lifetime, considered, reflected, and frozen in time.