PACIFIC: Raven Skyriver at Stonington Gallery

stonington gallery presents

Raven Skyriver

p a c i f i c

Left: Skyriver hotsculpts a sea turtle at Pilchuck Glass School.

pac i f i c august 4-27 at s t o n i n g t o n g a l l e r y 1 2 5 S o u t h J a c k s o n S t r e e t • P i o n e e r S q u a r e , S e at t l e W A 9 8 1 0 4 2 0 6 . 4 0 5 . 4 0 4 0 • s t o n i n g t o n g a l l e r y. c o m Northwest glass artist Raven Skyriver (Tlingit) has been globe-trotting over the past year, teaching and blowing glass in Japan, Turkey, Norway, and across the United States. As he collaborates with and learns from more glass artists around the world, his blown and hot-sculpted creatures become ever more detailed and life-like. The techniques he uses to coax them to life are some of the most complex in the glass-blowing world, and his arsenal expands each year.

Dichroic glass appears in the astonishingly colored “Dorado” in this exhibition, as well as in “Find”. Collectors who have followed Skyriver’s career will notice brand new animal and natural forms in this exhibition that he has never before attempted, including the abalone shell, iguana, and mahi mahi (dorado).

Raven Skyriver was born in 1982 and raised in the San Juan Islands, WA. He worked on William Morris’ glassblowing team in the final years of Morris’ storied career, and has In this exhibit Skyriver utilizes scavo and dichroic glass for blown with Lino Tagliapietra, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen, the first time. Scavo (“excavation” in Italian) is a process Martin Janecky, and others. He has been an instructor at where a chemical is added to the surface of hot glass, the Pilchuck Glass School, and participated in residencies and as it cools the chemical mix actually corrodes the at Corning Museum of Glass and the Museum of Glass in exterior layers of glass. The effect is a gritty, matte finish, Tacoma. In 2012 he presented with the “Artists’ Choice almost appearing like sand, and Skyriver uses it to great Award” and the “Peoples’ Choice Award” at the Red effect on “Find”, his luminous abalone shell. Dichroic glass Hot Auction at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA. His (di - two, chroic - color) is made by stacking layers of glass work was some of the only American glass to be included and micro-layers of metals or oxides which give the glass in a large multinational exhibition at the Ebeltoft Glass shifting colors depending on the angle of view.

Museum in Denmark in 2013.

find (abalone shell) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted and Sandblasted Glass, Rope 6”h x 16”w x 10”d

Western (Western Pond Turtle) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted, Sandblasted and Sand Carved Glass 8.75”h x 11.5”w x 14.5”d

Grey Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted, Acid Etched & Cold-Worked Glass, Metal Stand 15.25”h x 26.5”w x 9”d

Gravitation (Humpback Whale) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted Glass on Metal Stand 21”h x 36”w x 10”d

T

he marine creatures I create lend themselves to the fluidity of glass, and its reflective nature. Using these native animals I hope to evoke the excitement of the salmon running, or the miracle of a whale migrating 5,000 miles.

I also want to draw into question the balance of nature.

How does the presence of these creatures affect us?

What does the future hold for these animals?

-Raven Skyriver

Bask (Iguana) Off-Hand Sculpted, Sandblasted Glass 10”h x 33”w x 13”d

Born and raised in the San Juans on the small island of Lopez in Washington state, I was taught the connection between myself and my surroundings. Spending my time on the water or in the woods, I grew to appreciate the connection between the food on our table, and the salmon in the ocean, or the deer in the garden.

These creatures (fish, whale, shrimp, octopus) have fed the human race for as long as we have existed; the whaling industry was one of the main catalysts for the Industrial Revolution, before the widespread use of petroleum.

--Raven Skyriver

Dorado (Mahi Mahi) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted Glass on Metal Stand 18.5”h x 36”w x 9.5”d

Chromatophore (giant pacific Octopus) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted Glass on Metal Stand 14”h x 17”w x 17”d

Embrace (otters) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted and Sandblasted Glass on Metal Stand 10”h x 23”w x 8”d

Mother (humpback whales) Off-hand Blown, Sculpted, Sandblasted and Carved Glass on Metal Armature 27”h x 46”w x 14”d

Denizen (Whale Shark) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted and Sandblasted Glass on Metal Stand

17”h x 42”w x 16”d

Tether (Seahorse) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted, Sandblasted Glass on Metal Stand 17.25”h x 7.5”w x 4.5”d

Breach (Breaching Humpback) Blown, Off-Hand Sculpted and Sandblasted Glass on Metal Stand

28”h x 11”w x 11”d

All photos by ACMECreative, with exception of “Bask” by Stonington Gallery. All works by Raven Skyriver.

Catalog copyright Stonington Gallery 2016. Designed by Sarra Scherb (Brass Archer Media)

artist biography

R

aven Skyriver started blowing glass in high school. His mentor, Lark Dalton, taught him the basics of traditional Venetian glass, as well as how to build equipment. With this knowledge Skyriver built a basic studio at home in order to create small cane worked vessels. Born in 1982, he is one of Stonington’s youngest artists.

After graduating from high school he traveled to Venice, Italy to take a course with Davide Salvadore, to further his understanding of Venetian technique. Soon after, he had the opportunity to work with Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen at Pilchuck Glass, and through this experience was invited to join the William Morris Team. He was able to work with Morris during the final years of his career, learning the unique techniques utilized in the production of his seminal work. Skyriver has worked with Lino Tagliapietra’s glass team in Brazil, joining one of the best production teams in the world under the direction of a maestro.

Working with teams of anywhere from 3 to 10 people, Skyriver is able to realize sculptures of a size and weight that would daunt many glassblowers. He sculpts all of his creatures while the glass is molten hot, which takes precision, focus, and perfect timing. If the sculptures make it through the blowing, sculpting, and cooling process—and many do not—they can be sandblasted, engraved or ground to add detail.

In 2011 he was invited to take part in a residency with glass artist Martin Janecky in Pittsburgh, and had his own residency at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA. In 2012 he was presented with the “Artists’ Choice Award” and the “Peoples’ Choice Award” at the Red Hot Auction at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA. His work was some of the only American glass to be included in a large multinational exhibition at the Ebeltoft Glass Museum in Denmark in 2013. In 2014 Skyriver was invited to be an artist in residence at Emporia State University in Kansas. In 2015 he taught and blew glass in Japan, Denmark and Turkey.

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