Kari Goldstein

Statement-
I realized that I could not afford to make the art I wanted to while working full time in the arts. It took time away from the PNW art glass community to make a fulfilling career as a nurse for me to afford to explore glass the way I want to. I do not need to conform to a specific style or process to keep galleries and stores happy. I get to explore my interests in kiln phenomena, the way gravity, heat, compression and time affect the end result. I enjoy the technical challenges of the material and its contradicting aspects. I could nerd out on glass and kilns alone but that wouldn’t leave room for my other nerdisms. I design pieces to challenge myself technically while rolling in influences from art history, pop culture and humor. I will digress into a 24 piece commemorative plate set dedicated to David Lynch’s masterpiece, “Twin Peaks ” just because I want to trade for another “Twin Peaks” fan art piece. I will take a mold off of tiny toys just to challenge my mold making and casting skills and allow ideas for final pieces to come later. I believe that most journeys are not linear. I have accepted my non-traditional path of not suffering for my art, and finding another way to support myself and my art habit. I make what I make out of pure curiosity and enjoyment and most people find the work curious and enjoyable as well.

Bio – Kari Goldstein is an American artist born in 1983. She started arts studies early in life earning merit based placement at The Rudy Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, MN where she graduated with her diploma in 2001. She continued onto earn a Bachelor’s degree in fine art glass from The School of American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2005. After graduation she interned with Michael Roger’s until 2006. She worked with local Portland artist Doug Randall in 2007-2009. She created a design line of fused glassware that was carried in fine craft stores across the US. She continued her education through programs with Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Pittsburg Glass Center, Pilchuck Glass School and Corning Museum of glass. In 2009 she moved to Seattle and taught kiln glass processes at The Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Pratt Fine Art Center until 2014. She also worked as program staff and volunteered as teaching assistant and arist assistant with Pilchuck Glass School 2007- 2014. Out of all the teaching, she enjoyed special programs focusing on inclusive classrooms for youth with behavioral problems and medical fragility. These experiences lead to her second degree and career in healthcare.
In 2014 she earned her license as a Registered Nurse and returned to Portland, Oregon. She provided mental health care to marginalized communities from 2014-2021 before transitioning to benefit management, quality assurance for a non-profit state a federal healthcare plan where she continues to advocate for the same people she cared for.
She continues her glass practices at her home and studio established in Oregon City, Oregon in 2025. Her work post design line is varied in subject and style. She is most widely recognized for incorporating imagery with glass through both screen printing and painting techniques with enamels. She also explores pate de verre and lost wax kiln casting techniques and their intersections with imagery. She enjoys technical challenges with purposefully humorous or light subject matter.

Contact email: kari.fps@gmail.com

Artist Website:
https://www.instagram.com/mementomaker_kari?igsh=ZGdrb2Zidmp2dnNr