Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has a stable of distinguished glassmakers. In the exhibition More Than Glass, the artists have combined glass with other media. The gallery notes, “For many artists, whose work is generally categorized as glass art, the use of additional media to further formulate and develop ideas is essential. We have chosen to highlight four contemporary artists working with glass that all embrace glass as a foundation for making their artwork and incorporate the use of other complementary, and sometimes unexpected, materials to further enhance and express their vision.” The exhibition runs June 25 through July 17.
Shelley Muzylowski Allen, Wild Blue Dagger, blown and hand-sculpted glass and horse hair, 22½ x 13 x 7"
Shelley Muzylowski Allen combines blown and hand-sculpted glass and horse hair as well as rock and leather in her animal sculptures. Her observation of animals in the wild since she was a child has given her the base from which she can abstract and stylize. “By suspending figures in moments of tension, recalling myths and legends through animal forms,” she says, “I hope to convey a place that different species have occupied over time.” Wild Blue Dagger emerges from a mythological past to inspire wonder in the present.
Vivian Wang, Blue Boy, cast glass, stoneware, gemstones and steel base, 22½ x 16 x 16"
Rik Allen propels the viewer into outer space in his not quite safe looking interstellar vehicles made of glass and metal and other materials. He says, “While many of my pieces have reference to my curiosity of science, it is also important for me to convey the humor and genuine curiosity that these icons of science fiction and these symbols of technological achievement embody.” Oracula Ogeelious appears to have skipped over eons from being a primordial sea creature to one about to explore the beyond.
Rik Allen, Oracula Ogeelious, blown glass, silver and steel base, 12 x 8 x 5"
Susan Taylor Glasgow transfers the domestic sewing and cooking skills of her mother into whimsical explorations of the expectations of women’s role in the home. She says, “For years I believed my work was about myself. But ultimately my work is about my mother. With the sewing and cooking skills she passed on, I am able to indulge my own notions of domestic role-playing. My work embraces the feminine ideals of sewing and cooking, but in a contrary material, offering conflicting messages of comfort and expectation.” Beauty First Lingerie Set suggests societal restriction as well as private abandon.
Susan Taylor Glasgow, Beauty First Lingerie Set, fused, slumped glass, enamel and mixed media, 29 x 13 x 10"
Vivian Wang was a fashion designer before turning to fine art. Her figures are clothed in highly decorated stoneware recalling the opulence of court life in ancient China. The heads, hands and feet are in translucent cast glass. “Though glass was invented over 2,000 years ago in China,” she explains, “it was used only for religious artifacts and decorative ornaments.” Her contemporary use of glass suggests the preciousness of the person, suggesting but not revealing, translucent but not transparent. —
Blue Rain Gallery
544 S. Guadalupe Street • Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 954-9902 • www.blueraingallery.com
Powered by Froala Editor
