HOLIDAY CATALOG 2024
Avventurina is a glassblowing technique from the 17th century that combines metal shavings with molten glass. This is an extremely difficult process that requires patience and persistence. Lino further intensifies this method by adding additional colors, culminating in his particularly precious Avventurine vessels.
Named for the floral pattern of the murrine, this Florencia vessel is simple in form, which highlights its bouquet of overlapping colors. This artwork is composed exclusively of Florencia murrine, made by layering and folding together different colors of flat ribbon cane, creating a petal-like structure within the rod of stretched glass. Once sliced into small pieces, the murrine are laid out on a heating stone and grouped tightly together. When laying out the murrine, Lino can assess how the glass pieces will stretch and shape during the blowing process.
Having grown up on the canals, Lino took inspiration for the Endeavor and Ala series from the boats and birds that fill Murano’s landscape. The designs themselves, graceful and simple curves of glass, developed from Lino’s admiration for Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese, a series of Italian comics that chronicle the adventures of a sailor. In these illustrations, birds and boats are depicted in a pared-down style, which Lino admired and sought to recreate in glass.
The Maestro began the Endeavor series in the late 1980s, using molds to create small and slender boats. Over the next 10 years, Tagliapietra continued to experiment with Endeavor, eventually achieving the meter-long vessels that compose the series today. Today, Endeavor begin as closed vessels. During the blowing process these long bubbles of glass are stretched over metal molds to form the gentle curves and tapered points that define the series. Having cooled, the vessel is in half horizontally with the base of this cut then becoming the final Endeavor.
The Ala series developed after the Endeavor. The “V”-shaped artworks, though seemingly uncomplicated, posed a challenge for Lino who needed to consider the right type of mold that could accommodate his vision. The Ala as we know it today was first made in 1995 at the Pilchuck Glass School while Tagliapietra was working with glassblower William Morris. Since then the bird-like shapes have become a signature of Lino’s career.
Many Endeavor and Ala are heavily engraved. This process involves master cold-workers painstakingly etching individual cuts across the surface of the glass to create texture. Lino explains that this process adds a “graphic quality” to the already commanding vessels. While the Endeavor and Ala developed as individual artworks, they are frequently paired to create large-scale suspended installations.
In the Borneo series, Lino applies long thin canes to the exterior surface of the glass, which interrupts the internal swirl of cane within the vessel itself. Lino wanted to evoke the idea of a bamboo forest, and the movement the plants have when blowing gently in the wind.
Asola,
D. Photographs by Russell
The cane work in this Asola is similar to the technique used in the Sahara. It requires multiple layers of twisted canes to create the bands of striping that loop through this artwork. In quintessential Lino style, this artwork grows more intricate the more one looks at it. The layers of colorful cane change with even the smallest adjustments of positioning and lighting. The name in fact refers to a type of knot used in tying fishing reels, which Lino tried to emulate in the twisting canes.
Trullo, is a classic work from 2000. The shape of this vessel is fairly simple, and recalls similarly shaped series by the Maestro like Hopi or Piccadilly. For the pattern on this artwork Lino placed cut pieces of cane in precise rows which, when blown and stretched, form the horizontal bands of small stripes. Lino explains that the title Trullo “is the name for a very particular kind of house in the Puglia region of Italy”. The houses are whitewashed and cone shaped with stone roofs. This glass vessel’s color scheme evokes the houses, and the stone roofs were the inspiration behind Lino’s use of cut cane.
The Osaka vessels have a painterly quality. The simple form allows Lino to explore pattern and texture in the murrine. The banded design recalls traditional Japanese kimono. The horizontal stripes of Lino’s vessels recall the obi that wrap around kimono and secure them in place.
Artworks like Stromboli have simpler forms, which allow Lino to more dramatically play with color and design. Lino will often play with transparency in the murrina, which allows him to highlight not only the exterior of the vessel but the inside as well.
The Batman is a playful series that often features bright colors and heavy engraving. As far as the shape of this series is concerned, Lino happily acknowledges that “I was inspired by the famous superhero.”
A limited series from around 2008, the Morgana features heavily engraved patterns that encircle a hole that runs through the center of the vessel. This creates a mesmerizing effect, and seems to draw the eye into the middle of the piece itself. The work is playful, and highlights Lino’s interest in exploring the three-dimensionality of glass.
Maestro Tagliapietra has visited Japan a number of times, and remains fascinated by the culture and landscape of this captivating country. Reflecting on this particular series, Lino comments that his travels in Japan taught him that “simplicity is not easy. It is complicated to make a simple design refined”.
The Mandara series are primarily closed-form vessels whose surfaces have been heavily engraved in a variety of patterns. In conceiving these works, Lino reflected on the decorative mandala drawings of the Bhuddist religion, whose intricate and geometric designs encourage meditation and focus. The effect is similar in these glass vessels, whose multi-faceted surfaces invite the viewer to more deeply observe its form. This particular series is one that Lino has revisited at several times over his long career as the Maestro similarly finds meditation and reflection in the process of glassblowing.
The Oca begin similarly to Dinosaurs: building up layers of glass and shaping the base while heating and cooling to maintain the temperature. However, rather than pull a long neck, Lino must keep the bubble near the top of the glass for the Oca’s “head”, and then carefully squeeze the “neck” to be very narrow. This is a very delicate process that results in the graceful and slender Oca.
For Lino, glassblowing is meditative. He follows his intuition and instincts in the hot shop, allowing his creativity to flow in all directions. The Poesia are particularly hypnotic: the intricate canes swirl together and invite the viewer to experience the same meditative qualities that Lino experiences while making the pieces.
The Maestro creates the Maui series’ striking colors using exclusively cane in several layers of incalmo. These series are heavily engraved in order to add to their atmosphere and depth, and are named for Hawaii’s second-largest island.
Lino travels to South America in this series and imbues the glass with the sights and sounds of Brazil. The vessels feature organic forms and a colorful patchwork pattern, achieved by incalmo and made even more dimensional through cold-working.
The Mandara series are primarily closed-form vessels whose surfaces have been heavily engraved in a variety of patterns. In conceiving these works, Lino reflected on the decorative mandala drawings of the Bhuddist religion, whose intricate and geometric designs encourage meditation and focus. The effect is similar in these glass vessels, whose multi-faceted surfaces invite the viewer to more deeply observe its form. This particular series is one that Lino has revisited at several times over his long career as the Maestro similarly finds meditation and reflection in the process of glassblowing.
Lino named his Contarini series for one of Venice’s most famous and historical families. There are a number of palazzos throughout Venice that once belonged to the Contarini family, and each features eye-catching architectural details that have inspired the Maestro to recreate in glass over nearly two decades. First begun as long cylindrical artworks, the Maestro has since developed the Contarini into the spherical shape seen here. Like its namesake, the Palazzo Contarini, Lino’s Contarini features “windows” which here offer us a glimpse of the opposite side of the vessel.
