GLASS ART SOCIETY
2014 EMERGING ARTISTS
2014 EMERGING ARTISTS CATALOGUE PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2013
Cover: Karen Donnellan, Working through... / Steven Ciezki, Untitled / Charlotte Potter, Duet Catalogue designed by Kristin Galioto
ABOUT Each year the Glass Art Society selects three emerging artists to present lectures at its annual conference. Through these lectures, artists with promising talent are afforded the opportunity to introduce their work to a large audience of established artists, educators, peers, collectors, art historians, and critics. Educators and museum curators are asked to nominate individuals who meet the following criteria listed below. • • • •
An emerging artist using glass as their primary medium Not currently enrolled in a training or education program (including MFA or PhD) Have 5 years or less of professional experience since graduating from study or training program Not currently scheduled to be, or have not already been, an artist presenter (lecture or demo) at a GAS conference
Nominees are contacted and requested to submit applications. A jury of professionals review all the applicants and determine the presenters for each conference. 2014 EMERGING ARTIST PRESENTERS Steven Ciezki, Ohio Karen Donnellan, IRELAND Charlotte Potter, Virginia HONORABLE MENTIONS Hyunsung Cho, New Jersey Damien Francois, FRANCE Jesse Jennings, Washington Ben Johnson, Indiana Suzanne Peck, AUSTRALIA Jovial Yeung, HONG KONG JURORS Clare Belfrage, AUSTRALIA Julie M. Muñiz, California
STEVEN CIEZKI www.stevenciezkiglass.com Sweet Spot When travel or a means of living develop into a routine, we become acclimated to our surroundings. The world around us becomes stale and disappears as we live internally in our minds rather than externally through sight and observation. Our perception of the world undergoes a shift causing common visual information to lose its sense of interest. All experienced phenomena get compared and contrasted with past experiences which are then placed on a personal imaginary reference scale. High on that scale are experiences of excitement, love, beauty, wonder and awe, but as time spent around a certain phenomenon increases, the positioning on the scale decreases resulting in feelings of banality. This is a natural tendency that is programmed into our brain. I create three-dimensional geometric glass objects that produce perceptual illusions through spatial ‘drawings’. Each piece, when viewed from a particular monocular vantage point, coalesces into the semblance of two-dimensional representation. This is my attempt to break free from these mundane experiences and impose meaning onto all of the noise and randomness in the world. I am recreating points in our life when everything lines up. I am asking: “If it will get there, can it get there, and most importantly will it ever be that perfect again?” These are the moments we cherish. In the world, when objects line up at one monocular viewpoint, both near and far, I want to think that someone or something put it there for me to find. Take a different route to work or go for a walk to realize how new visual stimulation seeks dominance over this irregular experience. We follow such a tight schedule that it denies us the ability to appreciate these little gems in our surroundings. These “sweet spots” are just a taste of what is happening around us every day. My goal is to rediscover what makes something fresh, recapture moments of pure bliss, and share them by recreating such instances through the numerous properties of glass. Right: Cornered, 2010, H 26” x W 21” x D 21”, blown glass, wallpaper, colored pencil
Trio, 2012, H 36” x W 23” x D 17.5” blown glass, spray paint
Lit 2013 H 23.25” x W 6” x D 6” Blown glass, neon, wood
Untitled 2011 H 18” x W 18” x D 19.5” Blown glass, wood, spray paint, charcoal
KAREN DONNELLAN
www.karendonnellan.com
Karen Donnellan’s work is informed by the metaphysical. The potential for healing through the manipulation of energy and material are the driving forces behind her work. Points of departure include the Flower of Life, Tibetan Sand Mandalas and the Zen Ensõ, each of which uses the circle as a symbol of balance and enlightenment. The role of glass is also crucial to Karen’s practice, given its ability to speak of the mystical. Her practice comprises a wide range of media including kiln-formed and blown glass, iron and bronze casting, wood turning, sound, film, performance and photography. The making process is integrated with the concept in which intricate, repetitive methods are treated as a meditation or mantra. Karen’s most recent performance Experimental Resonance explored the aforementioned themes through an interactive landscape of hot worked glass, sound, light and movement. This multisensory, cross-media project was the first collaboration between artist/maker Karen Donnellan, dancer/choreographer Merav Israel and creative sound technologist Dave Murray-Rust. Their approach explored the embodied experience of form and the physicality of material and audio experience, in search of a dialogue between the three disciplines. The interactive installation exposed the hidden acoustic qualities of glass with minimal use of mass/material. The project came to its preliminary conclusion at Tent Gallery, Edinburgh in February 2013, in association with the Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Collaboration is pivotal to Karen’s practice. Light Projection 5 and Light Screen 2 are reflective of an ongoing collaboration with the artist John Hogan. Light is our great provider and one of the most powerful tools in affecting the mood and energy of a space. Conveniently, glass is unsurpassed as a medium in the artistic exploration of light. By using glass and light as materials to harness and energy and mood, the artists offer a subtly spiritual experience to the viewer. Taking their cues from the 1960’s Light & Space movement and the artists associated and influenced by it such as Bell, Elliason and Kimsooja they create an experience through this new body of work as opposed to conveying a specific message. Similar to a composer creating music to be felt and experienced, the intent here, is to immerse the viewer in a space which initiates a sense of calm, presence and connection. This is manifested through the exploration of phenomenology associated with glass when combined with projected light and colour. The work is developed through an array of hot, warm and cold glass processes along with constant experiments with neon, light projection, reflection and refraction. Left: Light Screen 2, 2013, 4” x 8” x 6” cold worked two-way mirror and dichroic glass
Experimental Resonance, performance still 2013 Performance installation, blown and hot worked glass, contact microphones, projected sound, projected light
Working through... 2011 Each component height 23� dimensions variable Cast iron, cast paper, turned wood, cast wax, kiln formed glass, gold leaf
Ensõ II 2011 40” x 40” x 6” Cast glass (pâte de verre), form cast from recording of sacred solfeggio tones
CHARLOTTE POTTER
www.charlottepotter.com
My work explores the space between my self and the other, both tangibly and metaphysically. In my current studio practice I struggle with duality, so it is only fitting that glass, a prominent material within my work, has binary qualities cloaked with competing characteristics: liquid and solid, elastic and brittle, captivating and humbling. I am constantly looking for historical references, relevance, and reasoning for using this material. My works begin with historical model, paying homage to traditional glass techniques, or industries that have used glass, which I refashion to create commentary on our present moment in time. The human desire and dilemma to bridge the unfathomable distance between each other is at the heart of my investigation. Where is the break between my self and the rest of the world? My investigation begins with defining self through rigorous examination and comparison. My work discusses “the other” in terms of another person. However my inquiry has also led me to consider the space between action, words or meaning. I desire to articulate and name, the liminal space between. This elaborate strategy of probing involves constantly struggling with the boundaries of separation and defining the differentiated or undifferentiated space between. It seems that there is an undiscovered intimate tie between us in this world that we share. In my works I attempt to make these connections visible through apparatus, interventions, installations and collaborations.
Right: Sideways Chandelier, 2010, 30” x 30” x 25” glass, wax, fire
Charlotte’s Web detail 2010-2012 3” x 1.75” x .25” per cameo X 856 cameos (each friend on Facebook) Hand engraved glass cameos, custom metal, imagery courtesy of Facebook.
Cellular Reliquary detail 2013 30” x 20’ x 3’ Si02, bone, ash, dust, wood, acrylic, metal
Hybrid 2008 30” x 16” x 20” each Glass, foam, flocking, paint, glue, resin
HONORABLE MENTIONS
HYUNSUNG CHO I paused to look at the cityscape for a few minutes on my way back home from Seattle, and I drew the image of the city into my brain. Once, I dreamed of Seattle at night. The cities where most of us live are very loud and complex places. However, as everyone has different personalities and experiences, their feeling about the city life also depends upon the person, regardless of how loud and complex it is. I was born and grew up in the city in Korea. To me, living in the city was a simple repetition of daily life-the city was very crowded and not a joyful place. It was both busy and boring because everything there was very familiar to me. However, now that I have been living in the countryside for a few years, my emotions about the city have been shifting a little. The cities are always vibrant and full of energy with people bustling to their own works. It makes a big impression on me, and the variety gradually has become fresh energies and new ideas for my work. My works are a process in recording the journey of my life. I take pictures of many moments in daily life. Through the pictures, I can remember where I was, what I saw and how I felt from the past. The visual impressions and personal memories are the main streams of my works because the city in daily life is most significant area from which most of my experience and memories come.
DAMIEN FRANCOIS By exposing an unfamiliar side of the characteristics of glass, my artwork aims to approach issues of perplexity and uncertainty, I’m driven primarily by material experimentation with glass, based on the exploration and exploitation of its multitude possibilities. This means a continual process of trial and error. Several bodies of work, informed and influenced by each other, compose my investigations; they all together operate on the fragile border between applied art and fine art. By using centuries of glass making traditions I endeavor to create my own perspective within a contemporary context. I am investigating what can be familiar yet remain foreign at the same time. This investigation is a deep exploration of working with, and not just using, the material glass. It works with and questions the nature of the material, or whether one considers the chemical components that comprise the glass to be glass itself. By controlling the melting process of raw materials, my new wall-based works use the formal language of painting. These could be considered both a composition of glass chemistry and a manipulation of chemical composition. The result questions the very nature of what we consider to be glass.
JESSE JENNINGS
The impact, duration and evidence of time within the natural world inspires the research supporting my sculptural work. Growth, evolution, and innate behaviors of living organisms result in cyclic patterns, constructions and designs that are critical to my developing aesthetic. I see my studio practice as an experiment in understanding these phenomenon and gaining a clearer perspective and awareness of our surroundings.
BEN JOHNSON These sculptural works of art interplay with their environment and the viewer’s perception or interaction with art. This idea is executed by the site-responsive artworks that are framed by the gallery setting. You, as the perceiver, are an integral part of this sculptural site specific installation. It is through your participatory motion that the artwork will be activated to create a phenomenal experience. The movement that the stationary artwork implies through illusion cultivates the exchange between themselves, their architectural setting, and their viewer. This idea is visually created through the use of glass, wood, metal, and light. The glass and light have the ability to create optical illusions that change visually as you pass through the gallery and artwork suggesting a moirÊ effect. The wood and metal enhance the illusion of the glass and light, while integrating the artwork within its architectural setting. The exchange between these materials and the gallery invite the viewer into a space of speculation that activates the artwork.
SUZANNE PECK I am a recovering poet. I believe that art, concepts and making live in between language and object. It is this middle ground that I live in, each hand holding fast to a rope anchored in opposite worlds. This in between is where my research and my work lives. My work investigates sensory perception through notions of the body, skin and touch. I am interested in two particular moments. The first is that break in perception when you recognize that your body is simultaneously touching and being touched by the world around you. The second is the singularly human attempt and ultimate failure (a painful beauty), at trying to fully understand or occupy another’s experience. I look to poets, phenomenologists, scientists and other artists to help me unpack these ideas. I use glass and water as my primary materials. My methods vary and have included glass blowing, casting, performance, digital video and photography. I tend to work across genres, learning as I go, honoring the best method for the particular concept I am trying to address at the time. My practice is as much fueled by the making as it is by the research. I am equally energized by giving myself over to the ideas in a book as I am with my arms elbow deep in cool, wet plaster. It is my hope that my work reflects this split, a passion for the mind and the hand.
JOVIAL YEUNG I like to play with different materials which help in creating mixed media glass art. My various studio glass art techniques, combined with the experience in metalsmithing and antique restoration, result in unique mixed media artworks. I have a passion for experimentation with glass which is the major material in my artworks. I keep pushing and exploring the properties of glass in my pursuit of expressing emotions through art. The extremely fine and delicate stings emphasize technique of the artworks contrast with their critical and unsettling messages. The characteristics of glass are being emphasized in some of my works. For example, in glass installation Revenge (2012), offensive glass pieces which have chilly black thorns drive audiences’ fear visually. After that, I started to make artworks with flamework glass pinning onto the canvas so as to create a 3-dimensional painting. In Self Defence (2013), the contradiction between the harmful looking glass stings and the fact of their fragility implies a kind of psychological status of the self-defencing character; in The Victim Series (2013), the extreme fine glass thread create an implied outline which represents the weakness and fragility of the animals’ life, but on a contrary, body parts which are the only desirable parts in the eyes of the hunters, are highlighted with gold leaves. Themes of works are usually inspired from my life and the environment. I hope to share my feeling with audiences through my artworks.
I M A G E
D E T A I L S
HYUNSUNG CHO A Misty Morning 2013 25” x 19” x 13” Blown & enameled glass, metal
DAMIEN FRANCOIS Foam Glass 2011 16-50 x 14-40 x 5-10 cm Pâte de verre, cut, polished
JESSE JENNINGS Detritus 2012 10” x 6’ x 3’ Glass, steel wire, paint, mirror solution, flameworking
BEN JOHNSON Circular Experience (detail) 2012 10’ 5” x 20’ x 20’ Cast glass and steel
SUZANNE PECK Submerge (video stills) 2009 Dimensions variable upon installation Digital Video, Sound, Cast Glass videography by Kristian Borysevicz
JOVIAL YEUNG Self Defence 2013 63.5 x 48.5 x 9 cm Flameworked glass, canvas
CLARE BELFRAGE Inspired by experiences of detail in nature, Clare Belfrage’s work has been distinguished by the use of fine glass threads to draw complex linear patterns on the surface of blown glass forms. She has maintained a vibrant practice for over twenty years. She has been an active participant in artists’ communities including the glass based studio blue pony, SA, of which she is a founding member and, the JamFactory Glass Studio community in Adelaide. Clare has lived and worked amongst the artists’ community of Canberra from 2009 where she has played the pivotal role of Creative Director of the Canberra Glassworks until the end of 2013. She has had a long involvement in education and has lectured in the glass programs at Curtin University, WA, University of South Australia, SA, and Ohio State University, USA. She has also taught various workshops throughout Australia and at In addition to Australia, Clare regularly exhibits in North America, Europe, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Her work has been recognised for its innovation and originality and in 2005 and, 2011, she was awarded the Tom Malone Glass Prize by the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Clare’s work is represented in major public collections including: Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Corning Museum of Glass, USA, Museo do Vidro, Marinha Grande, Portugal, Tacoma Museum of Glass, USA, National Art Glass Collection, Wagga Wagga, ArtBank, NSW, Art Gallery of South Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Museum and Art Gallery of Tasmania and Northern Territory Museum.
JUROR COMMENTS I think it was a strong field of emerging artists who have applied. The work ranged from highly crafted objects showing considerable skill to some sophisticated conceptual work. I would say it was a highly competitive field. The photography was generally of a high standard which is good to see. Some of the statements could be further developed to get a stronger sense of how the artists would present.
JULIE M. MUÑIZ Julie M. Muñiz is the former Associate Curator of Design and Decorative Arts at the Oakland Museum of California where she managed the collection of historical and contemporary craft objects. At the OMCA, Ms. Muñiz oversaw the installation of craft, decorative arts, and design as the Museum underwent a major renovation and reinterpretation of its galleries. An avid lover of 3-dimentional art and design, she earned her MA from the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Art, Design, and Culture in New York City. In 2012, Ms. Muñiz curated two exhibitions in honor of fiftieth anniversary of American studio glass: Playing with Fire: Artists of the California Studio Craft Movement at the Oakland Museum of California, and its companion exhibition Playing with Fire: The Art of Making Glass at the Oakland International Airport. She also co-organized with the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, the exhibition and publication Space, Light, Structure: The Jewelry of Margaret De Patta. Prior to coming to Oakland, Ms. Muñiz worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston where she co-curated the exhibition Shy Boy, She Devil, and Isis: The Art of Conceptual Craft, as well co-edited and authored the accompanying publication. Other publications include Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800 and Creative Spirit: The Art of Mary Tuttle Lindheim. A popular speaker, she has lectured on several subjects throughout the country.
JUROR COMMENTS Not yet tainted by the economic politics of a harsh art market, the work of emerging artists is often raw and pure. This year’s artists are no exception. They represent a move beyond glass being used as a lone medium. Elements of photography, architecture, performance, and manipulated perspective are used to speak to issues of identity and cultural memory. Masterfully executed and deep in meaning, these works represent the future of art glass.
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