Description

John Moran is a bi-national, politically and socially engaged glass sculptor and mixed-media artist. As an American with Belgian citizenship, he currently lives and works in both Belgium and the United States. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe and spent a year and a half in China in 2004. His academic and artistic career reflects a solid education in Fine Arts. He began his studies in 2006 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduating with honors. In 2013, he earned his Master of Fine Arts from Illinois State University (Teaching Degree). Moran also received specialized training at the Pilchuck Glass School, where he created wood and glass totem poles with David Svenson and Preston Singletary, and at the Haystack Mountain School of Craft, where he worked with mixed media and glass under the guidance of Jamex and Einar de la Torre. In 2021, he completed his Ph.D. in Philosophy at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art in Wroclaw, Poland, under the supervision of Professor Kazimeirz Pawlak. This academic experience has significantly influenced his work, deepening his exploration of themes such as identity, transience, and the major societal issues of our time. Titles such as American Idols and Paradise Lost reflect his critical reflection on cultural myths and the pursuit of perfection, while exhibitions such as Sacrilegious Septet and Beside the Golden Door address questions of faith and migration. Through his philosophical perspective, he connects individual and collective experiences, encouraging viewers to self-reflect and question their beliefs. In 2022, he won the third season of Blown Away, the Netflix show about glass art. Moran has exhibited his work in both Europe and the United States in prestigious galleries and institutions. Throughout his career, Moran has held numerous solo exhibitions in the USA and Europe. Most recently, he presented American Idols in 2024 at STARWorks in North Carolina. In 2023, he showcased Blown Away Experience at the Habatat Galleries in Michigan and collaborated with Minhi Su England and John Sharvin on the Undefined exhibition at the Hodge Gallery of the Pittsburgh Glass Center. His 2022 solo exhibitions included Sacrilegious Septet at Not Grandma’s Glass and We Are Blown Away at the Habatat Galleries. He also presented Beside the Golden Door as part of Blown Away in Hamilton, Ontario. Moran’s exhibitions cover a wide range of themes and venues, demonstrating his continuous development in contemporary glass art. Highlights include On Solid Water in 2019 at the GlasMuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark and A Still Life in 2017 at the SiC! Gallery at the BWA Center for Contemporary Art in Poland. In 2016, he showed Paradise Lost at the Augustinerkloster in Ghent, Belgium, following his Youth_AnaSiA exhibition in 2015 at the S12 Gallery in Norway. Early works like American Idols at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in 2014 and I Came, I Saw, I Concurred in 2013 in Belgium, as well as his MFA thesis exhibition back to school at Illinois State University, reflect his early creative explorations. Moran’s works are represented in numerous private collections, as well as public collections including the Nevis Historical & Conservation Society, the WheatonArts Museum of American Glass, the Lommel Glazenhuis Museum, and the Morris Museum.