Steve Immerman

Although a native New Yorker, Steve Immerman has lived in the Midwest for over 40 years. Immerman has been working in glass for 36 years, the last 25 years exclusively with kilnformed glass. Immerman uses glass art as a respite from his more left brain and stressful career as a general surgeon and surgical oncologist.

He recognizes many parallels between kilnformed glass and surgery.

“They each involve technical skill and precise planning in preparation for the portion of the process where the elements are left alone to heal (in the case of surgery) or fuse (with kilnformed glass). Both processes require intense knowledge of what is expected to happen, and neither allow much margin for error. Both combine science and art.”

His journey in glass has included classes throughout the United States with recognized kinformed glass artists, as well as extensive personal study and experimentation. He has been a finalist in the ArtsWest Wisconsin show on six occasions, and has been a finalist in the Bullseye Glass Company’s eMerge (competition for emerging glass artists) in 2002, 2004 and 2008. His work has been featured on the cover of Glass Craftsman Magazine, and he has authored multiple articles for that publication. In 2005 he was chosen by the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts to be the commissioned artist to supply original art awards for their annual “Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts”.

Depending on the particular piece, the glass Immerman uses may be transparent or opalescent; textured or smooth; glossy or satiny. A common theme in Immerman’s art is his use of geometric shapes, and, as one juror described his work, his ”…clean form and patterning.” He successfully juxtaposes wild, chaotic design elements with serene backgrounds and geometric regularity.

Says Immerman, “When people look at my work I want them to be at the edge of recognizing something beyond the glass itself; I want the glass to draw them to a memory of an emotion, feeling, or place at a subliminal level.” Immerman does this with repetitions of textures, patterns, colors and shapes, in the form of vessels or sculptures.

The works on these pages were each individually created in a small studio exclusively using Bullseye glass. All of the kiln formed artwork, sculpture and designs on these pages are original, and are copyrighted to the artist.

Publications:

Glass Craftsman: 2011 Author of “Everything You Wanted to Know About Cutting Glass”, Winter, 2011.

Glass Craftsman: 2010 Author of “Volume Control and Footprint”, Summer, 2010.

Contemporary Fused Glass, by Brad Walker: 2010, Four Corners International, Photographic contributor.

Glass Craftsman: 2009 Author of “Fused Pattern Bars”, issue No. 214, June/July 2009.

The Joy of Coldworking, by Jonathan Schmuck: 2009 Four Corner’s Press, photographic contributor.

Glass Craftsman: 2009 Author of “The Tile Saw – The Kilnformer’s Friend”, article on tile saws, issue No. 212, Feb/Mar 2009.

“Glass Network, a publication of the Contemporary Glass Society in the UK, 2008 “The Work of a Surgeon’s Hands”, interview by Jon Stamford, Issue 29, Page 2.

Glass Craftsman: 2008 Author of “Sandblasting for Kilnformers 101”, article on sandblasting, issue No. 210A, Oct/Nov 2008.

Glass Craftsman: 2008 Author of “Getting an Edge”, article on coldworking, issue No. 208, June/July 2008.

e-merge 2008: “A showcase of Rising Talents in Kiln-Glass”, Bullseye Glass Co publication, showing the finalists in this competition, including my piece “Aerial”.

Glass Craftsman: 2008 Author of “Strip-Cut Construction Techniques”, Issue No. 206, Feb/Mar 2008.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Kilnformed Glass”: My work featured in this Lark Publications by Cynthia Morgan, Hardcover, Published 2007.

Ward Rounds: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine alumni quarterly, Winter 2006-2007.

AMA News: 2006 Article in the business section about my work: “Surgeon Fired up about Glass Art”.

“Glass Craftsman”: 2006 Collaborated with Judith Conway’s article “Aperture Pours: Advanced Techniques”.

“Contemporary Glass Enameling”: 2005. Several of my pieces shown in this book on fusing with powders, paints, metals, and frit, by Kay Bain Weiner.

“Glass Craftsman”: 2005 Photos of my work featured in Judith Conway’s article “BATCH: The Pot Melt Defined”. Close up photo of “La Jolla Tidepools” featured on the cover. Issue No. 188, Feb/Mar 2005.