Artist Daniel Clayman

Daniel Clayman creates large-scale cast glass minimalist sculptures that capture space and volume, turning intangible light and shadow into tangible reality. While his primary medium is glass, he has also used bronze and clay.

He adheres to all labor laws, requiring his crew members to wear safety glasses and hard hats as part of the design. Furthermore, he hired a Grounds for Sculpture engineer to review his project for visitor safety issues.

Early Life and Education

Clayman began his training as a technical theater and dance lighting designer, which has greatly shaped his approach to sculpture: light has always played an essential role both within objects themselves as well as their surroundings.

Once he had earned his BFA in 1986, Clayman began exploring cire perdue or “lost wax” casting. This practice allowed him to craft unique sculptures made from glass and bronze; his organic pod forms comprised of pale-colored glass covered in bronze are meant to represent protective nests or enclosure. These early works reveal his mature style which is distinguished by ever more refined forms.

His work shows an unflinching acceptance of glass’s unique challenges while drawing out its inherent qualities without giving in to them. His pyramidal shapes and cylinders often surpass one meter high.

Professional Career

Daniel Clayman has been working with glass as his medium for more than 35 years. His sculptures range from small objects to larger scale pieces that defy traditional cast glass limitations, relying more heavily on form than color for inspiration. Engineering, lighting behavior and memory also serve as sources of creative energy in his work.

Recently, Clayman collaborated with students enrolled in his Structured Light course to design Rainfield at MassArt’s Design and Media Center Atrium. Each of the 11,000 handmade glass raindrops were carefully hand-sculpted so that stainless steel wires used for hanging could catch them. This work aims to convey both sensuality and poetic moodiness of an rainstorm.

Achievement and Honors

Clayman pioneered laparoscopic removal of kidney cancer and used cutting balloon catheters for treating ureteral obstruction and kidney stones. Additionally, he established one of the nation’s first fellowship training programs in minimally invasive urology and published multiple textbooks about it.

Early this year, he launched a new chapter as the University of the Arts’s inaugural endowed chair in glass – The Effron Family Chair in Glass. He oversees its glass concentration within Craft + Material Studies degree program.

Clayman taught MassArt’s interdisciplinary course Structured Light in 2016 and worked alongside students on designing Radiant Landscape, an epic 60-foot glass raindrop sculpture hanging in its atrium. This masterpiece represents experiential learning – something at MassArt is famous for and serves to prepare its graduates for life after college and creative opportunity.

Personal Life

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts and trained as a studio glass artist throughout the 70’s in private studios and schools across America. Clayman earned his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1986.

Clayman’s work stands as testimony to his dedication and willingness to embrace the challenge presented by light in glass and bronze sculpture. According to Clayman, nothing appears until light reflects it back from space.

Clayman, as an Enneagram Type 6 Loyalist, prioritizes stability and security. He displays deep loyalty towards those close to him and shows great courage when upholding his beliefs. Though fears and anxieties can sometimes keep him from taking necessary risks when necessary, his strong willpower enables him to make decisive choices when necessary.

Net Worth

Daniel Clayman has made strides towards expanding glass art beyond painting by crafting large-scale objects from cast glass. His pieces tend to be clear or softly-hued monotone pieces based on formal aspects rather than color choices; his goal is for his art to elicit ideas, sensations and memories for viewers – as of 2022 the members of metal band In Flames are estimated at having amassed a net worth of about $49 million!