Artist Focus: David Patchen

San Francisco Bay Area artist David Patchen sees color and pattern as a visual language used to create a personality or character for each of his pieces, akin to how sound is a language for music.

David Patchen, Foglio, blown glass; murrine, zanfirico cane, 22 x 13 x 4 in.

“Most of my works are explorations of how shifts in hue, transparency, pattern and design can evoke emotional and sensory responses,” Patchen explains. “I’m particularly drawn to working with secondary tones across the color spectrum, finding richness in their nuance and building them into complex patterns. Harmonizing these elements across a form and executing them in molten glass presents a continual challenge, one that I approach with both discipline and curiosity, aiming to create results that are both surprising and joyful for the viewer.”

David Patchen, Ellipse, blown glass; murine, zanfirico cane, 19 x 14 x 4 in.

In conceiving his glass art, Patchen often thinks more like a musician than a visual artist. “Playing with color, windows and detail, I seek to create an overall vibe that intrigues and captivates the viewer, with unreasonable detail,” he says. “The composition of each form feels akin to writing a song: the body’s dominant pattern becomes the verse, steady and familiar; disruptions or variations—what I see as bridges, interludes or riffs—introduce contrast and movement; and the chorus resides at the center, where threads meet and intersect in a way that repeatedly draws the eye. This synesthetic approach allows me to think differently about how to structure the work, not only around aesthetics, but around rhythm, emotion and flow.”