Susan Plum was raised in Mexico City and moved to the United States in 1965. She originally trained as a painter but began working with glass after an extended trip to India, Nepal, and Thailand, where she was struck by the material's quality of light and richness of imagery. She studied with the artist Ginny Ruffner at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, and developed a skill for lampworking, a technique in which rods or tubes of glass are shaped and fused using an isolated heat source. This allows Plum to "draw" with glass to create three-dimensional rather than strictly two-dimensional works. Plum also creates installation art in addition to functional and sculptural work.

(Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum https://americanart.si.edu/artist/susan-plum-27766)