Carissa Baktay

Carissa Baktay (b. 1986) is a multimedia sculptor, sharing her time between Iceland and Alberta. As an experienced glassmaker, she has earned degrees from Alberta University of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Universidade de Nova Lisboa. Using experimental technologies and mediums combined with time-honoured glass-making methods, she has been invited to work in studios in Bulgaria, Norway, Finland, and Portugal. Recently her work has been recognised with multiple grants from The Canada Council for the Arts, the Icelandic Artists Association, the Icelandic Design Fund and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Her process-based practice is deeply connected to material and memory; she uses glass-making as part of her deconstruction/construction process. By collecting, repurposing, and transforming materials, she transforms their presence in space and presents a new poetic material understanding that shares the borders between art, craft, and design.