Martin Janecký

Martin started working with glass at the age of 13 in his father's factory in the Czech Republic. His secondary school education focused on creating glass artwork at the Novy Bor School.

In 2003 Martin made his first trip to the United States. Working for other artists he was able to add to his already well developed skill set and knowledge of the material. He has been an artist and guest instructor on various glass programs such as The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, Pilchuck Glass School and Penland School of Craft. Martin Janecky is considered one of the best glass sculptors working today. He is represented by the Habatat Gallery and has exhibited his works in galleries and museums around the world.
At the age of 20, he was employed by important artists and designers from around the world to assist and carry out specific works.
Janecký teaches and demonstrates worldwide, including at "The Studio" at the Corning Museum of Glass.
In March 2016, Janecký worked at The Studio as a resident artist.
During this time he experimented with opal glass to promote his figurative sculptural work.
Later he created a body of work inspired by the Mexican festival Día de Los Muertos (the day of the dead).
"Día de los Muertos has been haunting me for some time," said Janecký. "On my first trip to Mexico City, I fell in love with culture and people, and left me with great inspiration."
Last fall, he traveled back to Mexico City to experience the Day of the Dead and study Mexican folk art. In February and March of 2017, Janecký returned to The Studio as a resident artist to further explore this work, attempting to translate his fascination with the Mexican celebration into glass. The work was exhibited in Mexico City on the day of the dead in autumn 2017.

Martin Janecký is a master handler of the medium of glass, coaxing impossibly naturalistic figures and animals out of the material.
By “sculpting inside the bubble,” (blowing the basic bubble, then opening a hole and molding it with different tools from both the inside and the outside), Janecký achieves extraordinary realism and startling detail in his faces. Nooks, crevices, lines, and protuberances gradually emerge, a map of human emotion drawn in glass, radiating from within as is from a living, feeling soul. When asked about the meaning of his work, he has said: “I make things which fascinate me—not just from the workmanship point of view—I try to give them an expression. I don’t want to make just a realistic portrait. I want to capture feelings and emotions.” The external calm of the artist as he deliberately and slowly works the material belies his own creative mind—active, passionate, always seeking challenge.

Martin demostration at the Corning Museum