Interview with the artist
What, if any, other glass artists inspire you?
I am constantly inspired by a number of my friends who also happen to be my colleagues, seeing them progress professionally and develop new ideas pushes me to do the same. I also admire artists who use the glass like any other material, in order to realize an idea, rather then create something around a material's limitations or glitz and glam. People like Josiah McElheny, a New York based artist, and MacArthur Fellow, have been able to break into the fine art world with a lot of success, I admire Josiah for both his ability to make really great art using glass, and his ability to use his brain while doing so. Glass is can be shiny, colorful, and seductive, but it has the ability to highlight so many other impressive attributes that no other material can match.
How would you describe your style of glass making?
Minimal. That is the finished work, however much of my process involves spending a massive amount of time in order to make my pieces appear very clean and minimal. I guess its more often than not a rule with my work that creating a look which seems fairly straight forward or simple is actually extremely complex. Lots of busy work. I'm unfortunately a bit of a perfectionist.
Why choose glass? Why not a medium that is easier to manipulate?
When asked what I do, I respond "I'm an artist, I make sculpture". I don't like being pigeon-holed into the "glass artist" category, which I often am. I work with lots of materials including light, wood, metal, paint, neon, and space. I do appreciate working with other materials besides glass because I can actually touch them with my hands rather than a tool, as is required when glass is hot. That said, glass has the ability convey some really amazing qualities. It has the ability to capture and manipulate light like no other material, as well as the ability to freeze time or movement, something like a 3-dimensional snap shot of what the material was like when it was a liquid. Using glass, the history of an object is apparent, and can be captured much like a photograph.
What is your favorite part of creating glass art?
The finished piece. Having an idea, and seeing it become a tangible thing, especially when successful, makes all the hard work worth it.
It seems like there has been a recent explosion of interest in glass art making, why do you suppose that is?
Traditionally, glass making is very, very old. The Romans developed and achieved a level of virtuosity that is unbelievable considering the crude technology available at the time. So glass has been around a long time, but only recently, since the 1960's, has it been used as a material by artists in small studios within the U.S., thus dubbed the "studio glass movement". I think its recent success has something to do with ever growing number of artists who are pushing the material in new and exciting directions everyday. This expansion has been made possible by all the great teaching and learning institutions out there, places like Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine and Pilchuck Glass School in Washington, as well as the many college/university programs around the world. More and more people are being exposed to the material, and being taught by extremely influential figures within the community. Thus the new work being created is better and better all the time. I think critics, collectors, and artists are aware of how fast things are moving, it's exciting for everyone to experience.
What was the inspiration of 'intentionally random line study' and 'phenomenon of light 2'?
My Intentionally Random Line Study series is intended to capture movement, I like to refer to them as non-representational 3-dimensional paintings. I hope to draw the viewer into the work while allowing them to make their own decisions about what they see in the work, or what it reminds them. As with much of my work, the experiance viewer has with the work is just as important to me as the object itself. Phenomenon of Light 2 is also for me a 3-dimensional painting for me. Using ordinary objects, the tumblers, the piece highlights an amazing or extraordinary phenomenon. Each colored tumbler manipulates the space its in, by turning the space around it a tint of the same color, caused by the natural emission of light from within the colored glass. This phenomenon isn't immediately apparent, and requires the viewer spend a little time with the work in order to recognize it. I'm interested in this interaction or experience between the viewer and the piece. It doesn't happen with every viewer, but that's what makes the relationship more interesting for me.
