“Glass is the perfect canvas for light; it increases the emotional and visual impact of my work,” says Tony Milici on his website, and indeed his exquisite glass doors interact with light in innovative ways, from elegant to playful.
As a child, Tony collected various pieces of glass and rocks. He was fascinated by how the sun reflected on the glass, how the rays complimented the glass.
Today, with over 20 years’ experience, he is world-renowned for his contemporary and abstract works of art that combine contrasting textures of polished, sculpted and faceted glass, resulting in a natural movement in form and dimension. He uses new and traditional techniques to create inspired architectural pieces, including his unique and impressive doors. Of his architectural work, he says, “By expanding the potential and application of glass, it becomes part of the architectural character around it. There is an inherent strength and elegance in glass that I am naturally drawn to.”
What drew you to your chosen craft?
First and foremost, knowing that I had a gift from God. In 2nd grade, I recognized I was able to draw really well. I began to pursue it as often as I could, drawing different things when I was young. Then I started to get into pen & ink. As I got older I began to create sculpture, and now painting. I love all aspects of art.
What do you enjoy most about your craft?
When I’m in the creative process and into that zone where you have things flowing out of your body, or out of your mind onto the canvas, or into the sculpture, in that moment where you come up with ideas that make sense in form and reason and contrast and texture and emotional reasoning, that is the most enjoyable part… and then seeing it completed at the end.
Why is it important for people to make things with their own hands?
It’s satisfying to work with your hands and to manipulate a medium, the material, to form it into something that is beautiful to the eye or utilitarian. It’s important to see what you have created with your hands come to fruition.
In what ways are hand-made goods better than those that are mass produced?
There’s a feeling in my work that there’s an emotional reasoning that comes into play, that has relationship with the mediums, with each other in the form and you can’t get that from a production piece. Handmade pieces of art are original works, there’s nothing like them, they can’t be reproduced the hands-on side of it brings it to life in an emotional way more than a production piece could.
What does the future hold for your type of work?
We’re doing some very large scale pieces now, pieces that haven’t been created in the past due to the fact that some of the new technology and machines allow us to go to a monumental scale. We’re pushing the envelope in so many different areas of my work that is really refreshing and exciting because it has never been done before. Hopefully we can create some pieces that are well received, that have lasting, even historical value to them.