Preston Singletary is a Tlingit artist who lives and works in his hometown of Seattle, Washington. He began his glass blowing education working at the Glass Eye, and eventually pursued a more formalized workshop-style education at the Pilchuck Glass School. Singletary began his work making Venetian-inspired sculptural objects. While he continues to incorporate Italian and other European-based technical elements in his work, he now firmly roots his practice in the traditions and imagery of his Indigenous heritage. Singletary writes that “it was only when [he] began to experiment with using designs from [his] Tlingit cultural heritage that [his] work began to take on a new purpose and direction.” Some of his earliest work that centered Tlingit imagery and design were blown and sand-carved glass hats meant to emulate the woven cedar hats created by Northwest Coast Indigenous artists. When turned upside down and placed under a direct light, Singletary’s hats create a striking pattern of shadow and light, projecting the Tlingit design from the object to its surrounding area.