Kacie Lees

Neon Light & Ceramics introduces students to hybrid practices that combine neon glasswork and ceramic structures in sculptural and installation contexts. Students will learn foundational neon techniques¿glass bending, gas/voltage properties, wiring, and installation styles¿alongside ceramic methods for creating supports, housings, and interactive elements. Weekly rotations between the Neon Lab and Ceramics studios provide students with equal immersion in both materials. The course emphasizes hands-on skill building, conceptual development, and experimental applications, culminating in a final exhibition-ready neon and ceramic artwork. Through this course, students will expand their technical versatility and explore light and form as interdependent sculptural media.
We will look at mid-century neon artists such as Cryssa, Lucio Fontana, Nam June Paik, and Martyelle Rayse, as well as contemporary work by Elaine Cameron Weir, Anselm Reyle, Ceryth Wyn Evans, Andrea Bowers, Shezad Dawood, Ivan Navarro, Blair Thurman, Jason Rhodes, Mary Weatherford, Glenn Ligon, Jochen Holz, Lionel Dinis Salazar and Jonathan Omar (Döppel Studio), and Demian DinéYazhi¿. Readings and selected text to include: Gyorgy Kepes¿ Light and Design, ¿Light as a Creative Medium¿ (1967); Wassily Kandinsky, ¿Psychological Workings of Color¿ (1911), and selections from Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi¿s Learning from Las Vegas (1972).
At the end of the course, students will have conceptualized, designed, and executed an exhibition-ready neon artwork, gained a working knowledge of industry standards and installation techniques, and assessed how the medium of light functions in their artistic anthology

Neon Light & Ceramics introduces students to hybrid practices that combine neon glasswork and ceramic structures in sculptural and installation contexts. Students will learn foundational neon techniques¿glass bending, gas/voltage properties, wiring, and installation styles¿alongside ceramic methods for creating supports, housings, and interactive elements. Weekly rotations between the Neon Lab and Ceramics studios provide students with equal immersion in both materials. The course emphasizes hands-on skill building, conceptual development, and experimental applications, culminating in a final exhibition-ready neon and ceramic artwork. Through this course, students will expand their technical versatility and explore light and form as interdependent sculptural media.
We will look at mid-century neon artists such as Cryssa, Lucio Fontana, Nam June Paik, and Martyelle Rayse, as well as contemporary work by Elaine Cameron Weir, Anselm Reyle, Ceryth Wyn Evans, Andrea Bowers, Shezad Dawood, Ivan Navarro, Blair Thurman, Jason Rhodes, Mary Weatherford, Glenn Ligon, Jochen Holz, Lionel Dinis Salazar and Jonathan Omar (Döppel Studio), and Demian DinéYazhi¿. Readings and selected text to include: Gyorgy Kepes¿ Light and Design, ¿Light as a Creative Medium¿ (1967); Wassily Kandinsky, ¿Psychological Workings of Color¿ (1911), and selections from Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi¿s Learning from Las Vegas (1972).
At the end of the course, students will have conceptualized, designed, and executed an exhibition-ready neon artwork, gained a working knowledge of industry standards and installation techniques, and assessed how the medium of light functions in their artistic anthology

Neon is an elemental medium that bridges craft and concept: from glass, fire, and noble gases, artists shape atmosphere, architecture, and space. Graduate Neon Workshop invites students from across disciplines to explore this luminous medium as both a technical practice and a critical language for contemporary art and design. In the Light Lab, students will gain hands-on experience with industry- standard equipment to bend glass tubing, explore color through gas and phosphor combinations, and develop completed projects with advanced conceptual frameworks.

Course discussions situate neon within historical and contemporary contexts¿from mid-century innovators like Cryssa, Lucio Fontana, and Nam June Paik to present-day artists such as Elaine Cameron Weir, Mary Weatherford, Glenn Ligon, and Demian DinéYazhi¿. Readings extend from technical guides to formative writings on color (Kandinsky), light as medium (Kepes), and the cultural semiotics of signage (Venturi & Scott Brown, Baudrillard).

Expect 3¿6 hours of additional studio time each week to support the complexity of this work. At midterm, students will present a simple, freestanding glass work based on techniques covered in class. At the end of the course, students will present an exhibition-ready neon artwork that integrates technical skill, material understanding, and conceptual intent.