Life After RISD: Checking in with Alum Toots Zynsky

Seminal glass artist Toots Zynsky 73 GL set her sights on RISD when she was 11 years old. She was one of the college’s first Glass majors and went on to assist in the founding of the Pilchuck Glass School with her RISD mentor, Dale Chihuly MFA 68 CR/HD 86. Zynsky lived and worked in Europe for many years before returning to the US and co-invented special equipment to aid in her unique process using colorful threads of Murano glass. She is currently showing work in multiple exhibitions and prepping for two solo shows that will launch next year. Here she reflects on the genesis of RISD’s Glass department and her ongoing obsession with the versatile material.

Tell us a little bit about your professional practice and what you’re currently working on.
I have been working on a series of pieces inspired by endangered bird species, which I started in 2018. The structure of their feathers is so beautiful, and it’s actually similar to the structure of my threaded glass pieces. A cross-cut of my works shows an almost identical structure to a cross-cut of a quill or bird feather. Endangered bird species are all around the world, in every country, which is quite sad. 

I understand that glassmaking is an extremely collaborative process. Do you work with a team in your studio?
I have five assistants, but I make all the pieces myself. I initially learned how to blow glass, and my current process using threaded glass still involves pulling pieces out of the kiln, working on them until they get too cold, and then putting them back to heat up again. Back in 1982, I developed thread-pulling equipment with my collaborator—the late Mathijs Teunissen Van Manen—so I could produce my own raw material, since no one else does. But my process is always evolving. There’s always something more to learn. 

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What initially drove you to become an artist?
I don’t think it’s a choice. My four-year-old granddaughter declared that she was going to be a painter when she grows up. I said, “I think you already are.” But my first big love was actually music. I started playing the piano when I was three. By the time I was nine or 10, I realized that I could play other people’s music but I couldn’t compose, and that was very unsatisfying to me. So, I decided to dedicate myself to visual artwork.

Why did you choose RISD?
I decided to go to RISD when I was 11. I had a wonderful babysitter who went to RISD, and I wanted to be like her. I applied early, which was very rare in those days, and RISD was the only school I applied to. 

How did you get into glass?
RISD didn’t have a Glass department when I started, and I was considering taking a leave of absence after Foundation Year. I toured the school one last time and came upon the new glass room on the fourth floor of the Metcalf Building. I opened the double doors and heard this roar. All these people were dashing in and out and swirling hot glass around. It looked like this amazing spontaneous choreography. I was hooked. 

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So, you were one of RISD’s first Glass majors?
Yes. The thing that was really appealing about it was the newness. A young painter going into the world has thousands and thousands of painters above them. We had the sky above us. It was really exciting and really challenging. The professor, Dale Chihuly, was an incredibly hard worker, and he taught by example. As long as you were working hard, he didn’t impose aesthetic parameters on you. The sky was the limit. 

What do you love most about the medium?
It’s so versatile. You can do with glass what you can do with all other mediums combined. You can paint with it, sculpt it, cast it, slump it, carve it . . . anything you want. It also has qualities that nothing else has. And it sticks to itself, which is really important when you’re trying to make something. 

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And you work exclusively with Murano glass?
Yes, I learned about it from an artist who was in residence at New York Experimental in Manhattan (now UrbanGlass). He had this amazing glass, and we were all like, “where did you get those colors?” He said you have to go to Italy. I got an emerging artist grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which gave me the ability to go to Europe, find the glass, and get some. 

Any advice for young artists?
Work hard. You have to be really dedicated. You have to really want it badly. Take the time to experiment when you’re in school. It’s harder to find time when you’re out in the real world and have to make a living. And understand the incredible opportunity you have: the facilities, the professors, and all the other creative minds around you. Oh, and make sure you learn another language. Speaking a language other than English has made a huge difference in my career and in making friends in other countries. 

The ongoing Life After RISD series features alumni making outsized impact in culture and industry. Stay tuned for more from our graduates on how RISD has helped to shape their practices and the way they engage with the world.

interview by Simone Solondz / top photo by Nicole Ross
August 17, 2026