AMY ELLEN SCHLEIF

 

American-born artist Amy Schleif has been expressing herself through art since childhood. Growing up with chronic illness, art became an essential emotional outlet, offering a means of exploration and escape when physical limitations restricted other activities. This formative experience instilled in her a deep understanding of the transformative power of creativity and clarified her life’s purpose: to make art.

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In 1996, Schleif began formal studies in painting and drawing, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her introduction to glass came in 2000, inspired by her grandmother, who crafted both Tiffany-style reproduction lamp shades and original designs. Instantly captivated by the medium, Schleif embraced the technical challenges of working with glass and immersed herself in learning its intricacies.

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Yet technical mastery alone wasn’t enough—Schleif sought deeper conceptual engagement in her practice.

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In 2007, she relocated to Australia to undertake a Master’s degree at the Australian National University’s prestigious Glass Workshop. This period of focused study allowed her to expand the emotional and philosophical dimensions of her work. Through colour, reflection, shadow, and time, Schleif investigates how emotional states shape human perception—inviting viewers to experience the subtle, often shifting interplay between feeling and form.

 

"I am interested in constructing visual spaces that shift and unfold with time.  By layering colour fields, shadows, and reflective surfaces that invite a dynamic viewing experience, where perception is fluid rather than fixed.  As the viewer moves, so too does the work - revealing, obscuring, and transforming.  My interest lies in the ephemeral - how we see, how we change, and how art can reflect that liminal, elusive quality of perception itself.