FUSION NOTES by Preston Singletary

IN STOCK 8 x 10.75 inches; ~100 black and white and color images with primary photography by Russell Johnson; hardcover, 144 pages;  $50 plus shipping ISBN: 978-1-7356423-7-6   Fusion Notes, a visual memoir, is a loosely thematic dive into Preston Singletary’s life and artistic practices. The title of this book speaks to Singletary’s multi-faceted spirit, Tlingit background, and enduring love for music and the medium of glass. Glass is a material still young in its recognition within the broader market of contemporary art. And yet, through his many years of traditional education as an apprentice, assistant, and team member working with some of the foremost masters of the American Studio Glass movement, Singletary has drawn international attention to it through integration of two ancient practices—the medium itself, and his deployment of traditional Northwest Coast formline design in glass. As has been a hallmark of his ever-evolving visual work and his music, Singletary is leaning into this storytelling of his life as another act of experimentation and collaboration. Preston's exhibition "Raven and The Box of Daylight" opened at the Oklahoma Museum of Art November 11, 2023 Preston Kochéin Singletary (b. 1963, San Francisco; lives in Seattle) is an internationally recognized glass artist of Tlíngit descent.  Singletary began blowing glass at Glass Eye Studio in Seattle in 1982. He developed his skills as a production glass maker, and attended the Pilchuck Glass School, going on to work at the studio of Benjamin Moore. There, he broadened his skills by assisting Dante Marioni, Richard Royal, Dan Dailey and Lino Tagliapietra among others, and started to develop his own work. In 1993, a professional trip to Sweden led to the influence of Scandinavian design,  and the introduction to his future wife, Åsa Sandlund. In 2000 Singletary received an honorary name from elder Joe David (Nuu Chah Nulth), a significant moment in his relationship to his Tlíngit ethnicity, and in his self-acceptance as a keeper of cultural knowledge. Over forty years of glass making, creating music and working together with elders, he has continued to forge new directions in use of materials and in concepts of Indigenous arts with Indigeneous practitioners internationally. Singletary’s works of public art have been installed in multiple locations in the Northwest; other works are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Seattle Art Museum; the Ethnographic Museum, Stockholm; The National Museum of Scotland; The British Museum; and The Smithsonian National Museum of The American Indian, among others. Two solo exhibitions he originated with the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, have travelled nationally. One of these, “Raven and the Box of Daylight,” curated by Dr. Miranda Belarde-Lewis, was on view at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC in 2023. Preston Singletary’s work is represented by Blue Rain Gallery, Santa Fe; Traver Gallery, Seattle; Schantz Galleries, Stockbridge; and others. www.prestonsingletary.com