The work of Seattle artist Preston Singletary completely shifted my perception of what glass can look like and, most importantly, what glass can convey. His melding of his own Tlingit heritage to the European tradition of glass art brings the practice of glassblowing to an exciting new level. During the month of April, Singletary will debut new pieces in an exhibition called The Illuminated Forest. Most of the pieces in the show are made of blown glass forms, birthed in his glass studio (with the help of his team) down in South Lake Union. Many of the objects appear to be made of wood, and some of them originally were. I'm obsessed with the way his pieces seem to emanate light. There's a duality in these objects—they're both opaque and bright. They seem to glow from an inner light source, the way light emanates from a gummy candy. And yet because he's depicting living things—otters, whales, humans—the radiance takes on a kind of living dimension. by Jas Keimig