Mark Zirpel received a B.F.A. from the University of Alaska in 1985 and an M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1989. He describes his work as multi-disciplinary, driven by ideas and context. It is physical in its materiality and conceptually insistent. It is sculptural, installation-based and kinetic. His work often explores a convergence between art and science. It is this quality of inquiry, a way of investigating the world that is at the heart of his studio methodology.

Zirpel’s work crosses media boundaries in its determination to address meaning. His work has been featured at numerous galleries including William Traver Gallery in Seattle, WA; Bullseye Gallery in Portland, OR; Kinetica Art Fair in London, UK; and it has appeared in Glass Magazine. He was awarded the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship where he explored collections of scientific apparati related to observation and measurement, time keeping, terrestrial and celestial navigation, electricity and magnetism. In 3D4M: ceramics/glass/sculpture, Mark has, and continues to develop, university facilities to support glass and sculpture teaching along with his colleague Amie McNeel.

Pictured: Mark Zirpel working in the WheatonArts Glass Studio.