About the Artist
Schiavon was born in Murano, Italy in 1971 into a generational glassmaking family. His paternal grandfather, Alfio Schiavon, began his own furnace in 1945. This would later serve as a platform for inspiration, instilling in Massimo the passion for art pieces of quality and refinement. Learning the ancient secrets and techniques of the Murano glassmaking tradition, Massimiliano started his work with glass as a young man in some of the smaller "furnaces" in the early 1980s. In 1998, Schiavon began working in his father's factory, where, with the collaboration of the glass master Claudio Zama, he began to combine different techniques that he had learned in the years past. The result was a new line of high-quality sculptural glass characterized by his unique style. Each one-of-a-kind vessel expresses harmony and balance and is completely handmade according to the ancient Murano traditions. His technique is distinguished primarily by the composition of the colors, achieved by heating together multicolor glass canes at 750°C which are then fused and blown with clear crystal. The majority of these art pieces are then cold-worked and hand-ground by a diamond wheel. After cooling, the glass is enriched by difficult and delicate cold working details that characterize Schiavon as a leader in the art of glass blowing. Cutting the glass surface creates facets and texture, giving extraordinary contrasts and interesting optical effects. Massimiliano has masterfully merged sleek graceful lines with distinctive, timeless design. His compositions of form, pattern and color are always different in each vessel, creating an art piece that can be considered absolutely unique in design. Schiavon’s works have now become priceless heirlooms to be passed on through generations.