On first Friday, September 1 Jessalyn Mailoa will lead the Belger Glass Annex crew to create an original glass artwork. The glassblowing demonstration is from 6pm to 8pm at the Belger Glass Annex (1219 E. 19th St., KCMO).
Jessalyn Mailoa was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Glass and Graphic Design, and studied psychology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Afterwards, Mailoa moved to Norfolk, Virginia, to join a studio assistantship program at the Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Studio. Currently, she is a studio assistant at the Belger Glass Annex in Kansas City.
ARTIST STATEMENT
What do you long for? Is it a person, an object, a place, or an emotion? In my life, I have longed for many things; a sense of belonging, a healthy mind, and intimacy to list a few.
Longing is an intense yet delicate emotion. On one end it can cause us to get caught up on the negative; embarking us on a downwards spiral of frustration and insecurities. On the other end, it can create a sense of hope and focus towards a positive goal. My work explores the emotion of longing in relation to the various facets of my identity including culture, gender, and disability.
I create videos and objects that incorporate glass because I am interested in the parallels of this material to human nature. Much like people, glass is fragile yet resilient, moldable yet rigid, familiar yet unpredictable.
