Nancy Wu and Jean Davis co-founded Resurrect Studio LLC in 2021. Nancy holds a Master’s in Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology; Jean received a Master’s in Art Therapy, is a tenured professor at Pratt, and maintains a private practice.
Their complementary artistic backgrounds fuel a collaborative practice that transforms century-old glass fragments - salvaged from a New York City landfill beach—into luminous, three-dimensional watercolor sculptures.
Resurrect Studio’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including The Venice Glass Week (Venice Biennale 2025) and the Brooklyn Museum, and featured in New Glass Review, Glass: The UrbanGlass Quarterly, Art Business News, and Ecopoiesis: Theory and Practice Journal.
This award-winning duo invites audiences to see forgotten materials anew, illuminating what was lost and celebrating transformation, memory, and meaning.
Resurrect Studio
New York, US
Century-old New York City Landfill glass sculpture
Finding the Transcendent in the Everyday
EXHIBITS
Glass Art Society, Trace, Sustainable Art Glass
Corning Museum of Glass, New York 2026
University of Texas, Texas 2025
Wilhelm Hallen, Berlin 2024
Juried annual exhibition showcasing the work of glass artists incorporating sustainability into their work. Held during the Glass Art Society annual conferences.
Elsewhere - Yowie Hotel, Kelly-McKenna Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 2026
Invitation to participate with one other artist in a boutique room-based art fair
Hampton House Events - In the Presence of Light, Southhampton, NY 2026
Invitation to participate in small group exhibition
Washington Hilton Hotel - Reckoning with Bloom, Washington DC 2026
Invitation to participate in this Contemporary Art Exhibition during Cherry Blossom week
Rowayton Arts Center, Rowayton, CT 2026
Juried group exhibition showcasing painting, sculpture, and mixed media by an array of artists
The Venice Glass Week, Venice Biennale, - Venice 2025
International juried exhibition
Kelly McKenna Gallery, Spring Lake, NJ 2025
3-week solo exhibition of 60 glassworks. Also a group show whereby we were one of four artists.
Split Level, NYC 2025
Installation within a design-centered space at Rimadesio
Stay Frosty, NYC 2025
Invitation from BravinLee programs to participate in site specific exhibition
Space Gallery, Broome Street, Soho - NYC 2025
Exhibition of glassworks and Artist Talk
Brooklyn Museum, The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition, Brooklyn, NY 2024
Juried group exhibition showcasing painting, sculpture, and mixed media by an array of artists
15 Rivington, Solo Exhibition, “Findings” 15 Rivington Street, NYC 2024
5-week solo exhibition of 60 glassworks, Lower East Side, NYC.
Pratt Institute, Undoing the Border Fantasy, Brooklyn, NY 2024
Juried group exhibition features the works of thirty-one artists spanning art, sculpture, photography, digital media, archives and research.
Saved New York, Collection of Victorian Ephemera, 2025
8 sculptures chosen and exhibited
ArtExpo New York City Art Fair 2024
Exhibited and received Spotlight Award
Red Dot Art Fair, Miami, FL 2023
Juried exhibition and fair held during Art Basel week.
Galeria Azur 2023
Invitation to participate in group exhibitions:
Act VII, Miami, FL
Metropolis, NYC
Outer Space, NYC
Act II, Miami, FL
Blue Line Arts, Cutting Edge, Roseville, CA 2023
International juried glass exhibition. Received second place award in this show
Da Vinci Art Alliance, Recollections, Philadelphia, PA, 2023
Juried group exhibition.
First Street Gallery, 9 for 19 Exhibition, 526 West 26th Street, New York, NY, 2023
Juried group exhibition highlighting the exceptional work of 9 selected artists encompassing a broad spectrum of contemporary practice. Resurrect Studio were the sole sculptors selected. Chelsea, NYC
Van Der Plas Gallery, Solo Exhibition, “Glass Recollections”, 156 Orchard Street, New York, NY, 2022/2023
4-week solo exhibition of 50 glassworks, Lower East Side, NYC Exhibition
Workhouse Arts Center, 8th Annual Glass National, Lorton, VA, 2022
Annual Juried group exhibit for the 8th Annual Glass National
Municipal Museum of Cartago, Biennial of Glass Art in Iberoamerica, Cartago, Costa Rica, 2022
Juried group exhibit celebrating the First International Year of Glass - Elected by the U.N. held in the Municipal Museum of Cartago
D. Diogo de Sousa Archeological Museum, Biennial International Heclectik-Art Glass, Braga, Portugal, 2022
Juried group exhibit celebrating the First International Year of Glass - Elected by the U.N. held in the D. Diogo de Sousa Archeological Museum
Schweinfurth Art Center - Made in New York, Auburn, NY, 2022
Annual juried group exhibit of work made by artists who live in New York State
Gallery 118, Lost and Found, 2022
Juried group exhibit dedicated to contemporary visual arts
Art Fluent, Lumiere, 2021
Curator’s choice in this juried group exhibit dedicated to examining the integral role that light can play in a work of art
ARTIST STATEMENT
Resurrect Studio (Nancy Wu and Jean Davis, Co-Founders) creates sculptures from Victorian-era NYC landfill glass that collectively narrate a tale of hope and inspiration, blending elements of the sacred and the profane. They collect glass fragments decomposing in the bay that have been tumbling for a century. Depending on the tide, the inventory varies greatly like the catch of the day. Fragments are sculpted into “3D watercolors.” How has one generation’s garbage become another’s gemstones? What will our children be mining? Resurrect Studio’s non-traditional approach to glasswork is aimed at finding the transcendent in the everyday.
1. Main Theme
Transformation and renewal
Memory and the passage of time
The sacred in the everyday
Hope, resilience, and interconnectedness
2. Personal Impulse
Through working with found glass, the artists discovered a metaphor for transformation: fragments carrying histories can be reimagined into works of light, beauty, and hope.
Resurrect is a life practice for finding the hopefulness in everything. As they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade; when life gives you broken old lemon squeezers, go and make something from that.
3. Artistic Language
What visual language does the artist use?
Reclaimed glass, light, transparency, and abstraction to express transformation and renewal.
Distinctive features of the visual approach
Layered compositions of salvaged glass that embrace imperfections and allow light to become an active medium.
Composition
Organic, balanced arrangements that create rhythm through fragments, transparency, and negative space.
Form
Sculptural and fluid, combining glass fragments into natural, evolving forms.
Color
Rich jewel tones and translucent hues that shift with changing light.
Symbolism
Rebirth, resilience, memory, healing, and the beauty found in restoration.
Use of space
Light and open space are integral to the work, creating depth, movement, and an immersive visual experience.
4. Materials & Technique
Century-old New York City Landfill Glass
5. Symbols & Recurring Motifs
What imagery recurs throughout the artist's work?
Organic forms inspired by nature, mineral formations, cellular structures, flowing water, light, and the quiet traces of time embedded in glass.
Are there any recurring symbols or motifs?
Light, translucency, layering, fractured edges, circles, and naturally occurring patterns within the glass itself recur throughout the work. The material's history is treated as an essential motif rather than concealed.
What do they represent?
These elements speak to transformation, impermanence, memory, interconnectedness, and the beauty that emerges through time. Rather than symbolizing repair, the works honor the life already contained within each piece of glass, inviting viewers to recognize continuity, presence, and renewal.
6. Connection with AWAKENING
This kind of art-making we invented connects us to Mother Nature’s biorhythms because it is completely dependent on the tide. Like fishermen going out for a catch, sometimes we find a magnificent bounty, other times nothing. It mirrors life. Even if our finds are not particularly remarkable, there’s a use for those pieces as well. Whatever the inventory, it ends up being the blue plate special, and we enjoy the challenge of how to make it look and taste delicious! No two pieces are exactly alike, so resourcefulness is key.
We have a great knack for finding what we do need. For instance, we’ll notice that we’re getting low on curvy, clear scuffed-up pieces and put that in our mind’s eye. This power of intention conjures up a sort of playfulness with the beach and when the thing you set out to find finds you, it reminds you that Nature is seeing you, versus you seeing nature. She will throw you a bone just to keep you going. Because we regard the glass as century-old fossils, some of our sculptures are affectionately named for the day they were unearthed and saw the light of day such as Aug 23, 2021.
“Every Fragment Remembers. Every Sculpture Shines. Every Work Carries Hope.”
CURATOR NOTE
Some encounters in the art world feel almost inevitable. Ours began at Artexpo New York, where I first met Nancy Wu and Jean Davis, the founders of Resurrect Studio. Our booth stood beside the artist Mohammed Ali, whom I was representing at the time, and what started as conversations between neighboring exhibitors quickly grew into a genuine friendship.
There was something truly special about the atmosphere surrounding Nancy and Jean. Their sculptures captivated visitors with shimmering transparency and vibrant color, while their warmth, generosity, and joyful energy made everyone around them feel instantly welcome. Their creativity was infectious, and it felt as though our artistic visions were connected by a shared belief that art has the power to inspire, unite, and bring hope.
That meeting marked the beginning of a collaboration that has continued to grow across continents. It started with conversations exchanged over oceans, with ideas, encouragement, and mutual curiosity traveling between New York and Finland. Today, that dialogue has brought Resurrect Studio to AWAKENING in Riga, connecting artistic communities across the Atlantic through a shared commitment to meaningful contemporary art.
Nancy and Jean do far more than create extraordinary glass sculptures. They transform forgotten fragments of history into luminous works that speak of memory, resilience, sustainability, and renewal. Their artistic vision is supported by remarkable knowledge, professional excellence, and a rare ability to reveal beauty where others see only what has been discarded. Every sculpture is both a work of art and a quiet reminder that transformation is always possible.
It is a profound privilege to welcome Resurrect Studio to AWAKENING. I sincerely hope this exhibition is only one chapter in a long and inspiring collaboration that will continue to grow for many years to come.
Nancy and Jean, your talent, your story, your generosity, and the values you bring into the world through your art are truly invaluable. It is both an honor and a joy to have you as part of the AWAKENING family, and I look forward to everything we will create together in the years ahead.
