Who is John Moran? Glassblower who uses glass to create narratives wins Blown Away Season 3

Blown Away Season 3 winner John Moran “is a politically and socially engaged hot glass sculptor, mixed media artist, and all-around nice guy.” He originally hails from Philadelphia, but his work has taken him around the globe to places like Poland, Belgium, and China.

In the 10-episode-long season of Blown Away, John Moran went against the other contestants to win a sixty grand cash prize with his sculpture Behind The Golden Door.

In the last round, the contestants were given eight hours to fill one half of the gallery with a challenge to create a “cohesive, original and immersive glass installation.” The theme was entirely up to the glassblowers.

Guest evaluator Susie Silbert, curator of the Post-War and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum, brought six of the Coring Museum glassblowers as associates to help the two finalists – John Moran and Minhi Su.

After the finalists had made their creations, they had to perform the installation themselves in the creation room for the judges to evaluate and declare the winner of Blown Away Season 3.

In the end, John Moran was declared the winner of Blown Away for his creation Behind The Golden Door. His concept was derived from white space. He wanted people to experience this empty space to see that there is “life pushing through, finding a way to shine.”

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All about Blown Away Season 3 winner John Moran

After completing his education at Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in 2006 with BFA in Glass Cum Laude, he completed his MFA in Glass from Illinois State University in 2013.

John comes from a painting background, but “the teamwork needed to make a piece” drew him to glass. Shedding more light on the reason for his love of glass, he told Beautiful Bizarre:

"The first time I walked into a glass studio, there was a community energy of people working together, talking together, and hanging out together – in and out of the studio. There is a kind of cult following for the material and I tried to distance myself from that for years, but recently have come to realize that it has been the entire focus of my adult life.”

He started working with glass in 2006 and created “unique works of art focusing on socio-political observation,” which had been “exhibited in many prestigious museums and galleries in the United States and Europe,” according to his LinkedIn profile.

He got into glass sculpting after getting inspired by “a video of Pino Signoretto sculpting with glass.” The video “opened up a world of possibilities” for him.

To share his passion with others and “love for the international glass community with the people here in Belgium,” he co-founded public studio Gent Glas in 2014.

Most of his work has garnered a lot of positive reviews from art lovers, but there is one sculpture that “triggered a particularly strong response from viewers.” Speaking about it, he said:

“New Times Roman as I mentioned before. Funny, because I never would have thought that. Even the first time I showed it I was criticised for portraying McDonalds in a poor light because of the good they do with the Ronald McDonald House… for me it even kind of solidified the idea.”

Most of his pieces “begin with an event. Something that has caused a media stir that devolves into ideological discussions based on moral subjectivity.”

The Ph.D. candidate at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Poland, nicknamed Sleepy, would love to collaborate with Chuck D one day.

Blown Away Season 3 saw some unique creativity from the glassblowers. Whether the Netflix show will be back with Season 4 or not is yet to be announced.