Pino Signoretto’s uncanny ability to hot sculpt glass into anything he chooses enthralled his assistants and students at Wheaton Arts last Tuesday. photo: deborah czeresko
This past Tuesday, all eyes were on Pino Signoretto in the hotshop of Wheaton Arts in Millville, New Jersey. His effortless, fluid movements at the bench were absolutely efficient. No energy was wasted. Everything had a purpose — and a breathtaking result. Recent foot surgery had left the maestro in pain, but there was no sign of it once he set to work conjuring out of molten glass a black bull and an elephant with gleaming white horns and tusks. Later that afternoon he crafted a gold-leaf-trimmed black high-heeled boot adorned with a pair of yellow lilies with a gold-leafed putto (baby angel) nested in between. The man can turn hot glass into anything, or so it seemed.
For the the past two weeks, Signoretto has been teaching a unique workshop with Michael Schunke. Students spend the first week studying the making of a Venetian goblet with Schunke, and switch gears in the second week solid sculpting with Pino. The class will culminate tomorrow night (August 21st) with an Italian Celebrazione benefit dinner honoring Pino as well as celebrating Wheaton’s 40th anniversary.
After a full day of demos, Pino sat down with The Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet to talk about his work, his future, and what it means to be a maestro. In remarks translated by Carina Cheung, Pino was surprisingly blunt about his frustrations with the glassblowing scene in Murano, which he contrasted with the energy and vitality he saw among young glassblowers in the U.S.
Kim Harty: What are you working on now?
Pino Signoretto: Getting out of Murano.
KH: Where would you go?
PS: Washington (State).
KH: What type of work have you been doing lately?
PS: I do a little bit of everything. I work on my own work, work for other designers, work on teaching and other jobs. But most of all I like combining the two: working for myself and teaching.
KH: What have you seen lately that inspires you?
PS: My work is a reflection of my life. Everything I see is an inspiration. I’ll go into there [the studio] and say, I’m going to gather for a jaguar, and then make an elephant. I like to transform glass into everything in life, except for money.
KH: What is different about working in the States versus working in Murano?
PS: Murano has a story, it’s very particular. It has history that other places don’t have. But in other places, there’s more desire, more passion, more interest, more experimentation. Murano is way too tied down to its past … they are too proud to open the door to other ideas and new techniques. I never make something the same way; it always has to be fresh, and always has to be different because I am always changing and evolving. Murano is closed-minded … I’ve worked for 55 years in Murano, when I come here [the U.S.] I have a great desire to make things and I am inspired. So my passion has traveled here, because that same passion that I had in Murano when I was a child has basically disappeared. The new generation has no interest, they all want to look nice, and dress well and not be around the heat.
KH: How do you feel working in the studio?
PS: When I’m working in the studio I’m completely present. I don’t think about anything. I could be on the North Pole, South Pole, on the moon, but I’m completely present. Here [at the class], there is a lot to do, in a workshop for a week and people might not know how to bring [bits], or coordinate well with me, they’re not used to how I move in the shop, and so I won’t necessarily say anything to someone because I’m not going to see them next week. But when I am in there and working, I don’t think I just want to get the piece in the box. I also have a lot of respect for the people that admire me and have this passion for glass. I still have a lot of years to share my wisdom.
KH: Where will we be seeing you or your work in the future?
PS: I have dreams to realize. You can see me many places, but I haven’t found anything that fits my standard to work like the Muranese. I’ve been interested in creating my own school or studio, where I can teach and pass down that tradition from Maestro to apprentice. Without creating too much of a change in the movement here [in the U.S.], I want to pass on my knowledge and create an environment that will be new for glass students. So everything is reversed here [the U.S.]. Everyone thinks “Okay, we will be great maestros first,” and they overlook the position of being an assistant. I stress that you have to be a really good assistant first before you sit down on the bench and do your stuff, because every facet is very important, if you don’t know how to bring a bit of glass, then you can’t really call yourself a maestro. The term “maestro” is a very multifaceted term, knowing how to do everything: charging, everything, cold work, not just goblet making, not just solid working, but a complete maestro has the skills to do anything. That is what I embody, I can pick up anything and make a spoon, make anything.
KH: Do you think there could be an American Maestro?
PS: Yeah, there’s a lot [of people] who could be maestros in my eyes, but they also have to learn how to be a good assistant. From A-Z from start to finish.
—Kim Harty
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