NANCY OTTO: Since 1992, I have been working in the medium of glass. My work is dedicated to my father and the special relationship we shared. We learned how to blow glass together, and when he passed away unexpectedly in 1999, I reevaluated my life and decided to pursue glass blowing more seriously. 

At the time, I had a fabulous job directing a youth education program for the ACLU. The ACLU was an invaluable supporter of my artistic development and allowed me to work part-time so that I could explore my fascination with glass. In 2002, my mother was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. I brought her in to live with me and took care of her until she died ten months later. I then made the difficult decision to leave the ACLU to focus on my art full-time.  

These transformations, along with my being biracial and lesbian, have given me the strength to take the risk to pursue a life as an artist. My work is about duality and risk-taking. I am drawn toward pulling clean crisp lines from organic twists and curves; pushing thick surfaces toward thin fragile openings.

I like to see what is happening inside a piece. This curiosity mirrors my interests in life. I am much more focused on what is happening inside a person, a family, an institution, or a system than I am with what is being presented. The insides of my pieces are created by manipulations and insertions in the glass. For me, these insertions combine both beauty and raw graphic detail. This window into an inner world represents a frozen moment of reality.

Whenever possible, I try to support the social change movement by donating pieces of my art or creating special glass awards for community leaders. Some of the organizations I have done this with are the Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Coalition, Purple Moon Dance Project, Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society, Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Project, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Chicana/Latina Foundation, Asian and Pacific Islander Family Pride, Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic, Breast Cancer Action, American Civil Liberties Union, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Women’s Foundation of California.