Participating in her first stained glass class at eight years old, Sarah Oleksyk has seemingly always been fascinated by the medium. “If you ever walk into a stained-glass store where you see all the sheets lined up in colors, it’s like going into a candy store,” she says. “It’s like painting with light.”
While stained glass has been historically preserved for exalted and religious imagery, Oleksyk has found excitement in expanding its horizons into erotic creations.
“There’s something kind of fun and subversive about doing something triple-X rated in the medium of [stained] glass because it’s subverting the history of it,” she says.
After experiencing a personally and politically difficult year, she crafted Medusa, a work that presents a powerful interpretation of the Greek Gorgon. “Instead of just tapping into the sexual side of her, I think she’s more of a reflection of female anger and rage,” she says.
After choosing black glass for its iridescence and texture the other colors fell into place, says Olekysk, who decided on a green background with golden swirls to conjure a sick and witchy feeling.
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