artist bio

Andre Nigoghossian:

While studying art history at UC Berkeley, Andre Nigoghossian learned the basics of furnace glassblowing and worked as a glassblower's assistant for a brief period, but it was discovering the work of Venetian lampworkers during a trip to Italy in 1999 that began the transition into flameworking. Andre left glass for several years to start a custom lighting business with a couple of college friends, using sculpture and moldmaking techniques and working with cast resin, metal, and glass, while day-jobbing as a wicker furniture restorer.

 

In 2006 he began his flameworking education, and since then has studied with several of today's greatest American and Italian flameworkers - Roger Parramore, Mathew Eskuche, Emilio Santini, Lucio Bubacco, Gianni Tosso, Suellen Fowler, Robert Mickelsen, and Cesare Toffolo. Andre works in both Soda-lime and Borosilicate glass, preferring soda-lime for its flowing sculptural characteristics and wide color palette, and boro for its proclivity for thin, blown vessel work.

 

Andre is also a musician and has played guitar for numerous bay area theater productions, and plays with The Eggplant Casino, a San Francisco-based rock/world-music band: eggplantcasino.com.