Contemporary Canadian Glass

CHRONOS – Exposition Solo de Donald Robertson

Galerie Espace VERRE, Montréal   22 Avril – 4 Juin,  2010

Three Chronometers, 2010, Glass, salt, water,iron and silica 137 x 53 x 53 cm each

Depuis des milliers d’années, l’homme s’efforce d’élucider les mystères de l’univers. Bien que l’évolution des connaissances scientifiques et les nombreuses découvertes révolutionnaires qui l’accompagnent aient engendré de profonds changements au niveau des points de vue scientifique, philosophique et social, notre manière d’aborder et de comprendre le monde demeure une quête incessante.

Pour l’artiste verrier Donald Robertson (né à Montréal en 1952), l’ensemble de ces spéculations intellectuelles constitue une source d’inspiration depuis près de 30 ans. Ce dernier utilise le verre et ses qualités intrinsèques de manière à matérialiser ses propres réflexions quant à la nature humaine et l’univers qui l’entoure. Symboles d’universalité, reflets de l’âme, regards sur l’infini : c’est dans une dimension à la fois philosophique et spirituelle que se construit l’esthétique de cet artiste pour le moins accompli. Ancien élève du Sheridan College (Ontario), la réputation de Robertson n’est plus à faire. Passé maître des techniques de la pâte de verre et du moulage à la cire perdue[1], on retrouve ses sculptures de verre dans nombre de collections privées et publiques tant en Amérique du Nord, en Europe qu’en Asie. Au cours de sa carrière, cet artiste a remporté de nombreux honneurs en plus de participer à plusieurs échanges à travers le monde. En 1990, grâce au soutien du Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec, Robertson eut l’occasion de séjourner à Prague (Tchécoslovaquie) où il fut profondément marqué par son apprentissage en compagnie des verriers Ales Vasicek & Jaromir Rybak. Durant vingt ans, Robertson s’est également consacré à l’enseignement, partageant ainsi son riche savoir auprès d’une relève formée chez Espace Verre : l’École du verre à Montréal.

C’est en ces lieux que l’artiste nous conviait tout récemment pour sa plus récente exposition solo intitulée Chronos[2]. Non sans rappeler une divinité Grecque, ce titre annonce inéluctablement un thème cher à l’artiste : la perception du passage du temps. Cette exposition, entièrement constituée de pièces nouvelles (à une exception près), fait figure de synthèse de l’œuvre de Robertson chez qui la notion de temporalité apparaît subtilement, mais de manière soutenue, dans l’ensemble de sa production. Cette référence s’affirme bien sûr par l’utilisation de techniques anciennes, mais aussi sous forme de métaphores, à travers diverses thématiques associées soit aux découvertes scientifiques[3], aux phénomènes métaphysiques[4], au progrès (à la fois technologique et social) ou encore, et plus simplement, aux histoires légendaires[5] et autres lieux de mémoire[6].

Chronos Show

Ici, ce que l’artiste met en scène, c’est avant tout notre rapport au temps. Et le thème est pris de front et exploré sous toutes ses coutures : une « ligne de temps » composée d’une série d’esquisses disposées chronologiquement nous plonge d’entrée de jeu au cœur des préoccupations de l’artiste, marquant une phase primaire et indispensable du processus créatif. De même, une série de modèles en cire, intitulé Twelve, témoigne d’une étape cruciale de la fabrication tout en s’affirmant ici comme œuvre définitive. Puis, une énorme pendule (suspendue à quelques centimètres du sol) nous renvoie symboliquement à notre propre existence alors que trois énormes sabliers de verre– incarnant la transformation de la Terre par l’air, l’eau et le feu– évoquent, tel un arrêt sur image, une dimension temporelle insaisissable pour l’homme : le temps géologique. D’autres transformations physiques sont également explorées de manière plus conceptuelle. Les œuvres Ripple et Moon Shadow s’inspirent toutes deux de l’eau et du cycle des marées sans toutefois constituer une référence littérale : l’artiste parvient à en évoquer les attributs grâce à une extraordinaire maîtrise des matériaux. Enfin, témoignant de ses premières réalisations artistiques, une sculpture en céramique, intitulée A Totem of Life (1978), nous rappelle que la mort se situe au fondement de toute forme de vie.[7]

Les œuvres de Donald Robertson témoignent ainsi d’une profondeur d’esprit et d’une sensibilité exceptionnelles. Celles-ci transcendent la matière grâce à de magnifiques jeux de lumière et de subtils contrastes de transparence et d’opacité. Le regard à la fois contemporain et très personnel que Robertson porte sur l’univers n’est nul autre que celui du philosophe ou du savant, magnifiquement incarné par la figure de l’artiste.

Valérie Côté, pour Espace VERRE.

“Étudiante à la Maîtrise en Etudes des arts à l’Université Concordia (Montréal), Valérie Côté est historienne de l’art et se spécialise en arts décoratifs contemporains. Elle travaille depuis plus d’an comme assistante de recherche pour le Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal et comme assistante professeure a l’Université Concordia. En plus de publier régulièrement au sein de revues specialisées, elle agit également a titre de conférencière invitée au sein de différents lieux d’enseignement.”

[2] Cette exposition fut présentée à la Galerie d’Espace Verre, du 22 avril au 4 juin 2010.

[3]Copernicus, 2009 ; Blue Spira, 2002

[4]Vessel II, 1997 ; Spiral form ou Vortex

[5]Memory II, 2008

[6] Série Voyages

[7] Choix d’œuvres de l’exposition Chronos.

^{CHRONOS – A SOLO EXHIBITION BY DONALD ROBERTSON}

^{GALERIE ESPACE VERRE,  MONTREAL  April 22 – June 4, 2010}

Twelve Wax, 2010, Eleven presented, 25 x 53 x 5 cm each

For thousands of years, mankind has been trying to explain the mysteries of the universe. Through the evolution of scientific knowledge and in the numerous revolutionary discoveries that have accompanied it, profound transformations have been brought to scientific, philosophical and social thought. We remain on an endless quest to find new ways of seeing and understanding our world.

For glass artist Donald Robertson (born in Montreal in 1952), these intellectual enigmas have been a source of inspiration in his work for the past 30 years. He uses glass and its intrinsic qualities to materialize his reflections on human nature and the universe that envelops us.  Universal symbolism, spirituality and ponderings on infinity: it is as much within the philosophical as the spiritual realms where this accomplished artist finds his creative aesthetic.  A Sheridan College graduate (Ontario), Donald Robertson’s reputation is well established. Mastering the ‘pate de verre’ technique and lost wax glass casting technique[1], his glass sculptures are found in many private and public collections in North America, Europe and Asia. Over his career, he has received many awards, in addition to having participated in many international events. In 1990, thanks in part to a grant from the Quebec Ministre of Cultural Affairs, Robertson was able to travel to Prague (Czechoslovakia) where he studied with glass masters Ales Vasicek and Jaromir Rybak. This study apprenticeship would profoundly influence his work for the next twenty years. Over the same two decades, Robertson has equally dedicated himself to his teaching, sharing his wealth of knowledge with the students of Espace VERRE: the Montreal glass school.

Donald Robertson recently presented his solo exhibition of new work titled Chronos[2], in the gallery space of Espace VERRE. While alluding to the Greek god of the same name, the title inescapably refers to a theme that is dear to the artist: our perception of the passage of time. The new works in this exhibition (with one exception) synthesize the body of Robertson oeuvre, subtly referring to temporality, the dominant theme in the pieces presented. This reference is apparent not only in his use of ancient techniques, but in the metaphors and variety of themes associated with both scientific discovery³ and metaphysical phenomena⁴, progress both social and technological, or more fundamentally alluding to myth⁵ and memory⁶.

In this exhibition, the artist emphasizes our relationship with time.  Accordingly, this theme is confronted unapologetically and explored in its many nuances: Time Line (2009-2010), a series of drawings presented in chronological order, plunges us into the heart of the artist’s intent, the indispensable genesis of the creative process.  In the piece Twelve (2010) a series of wax forms, usually created as a step towards fabrication in glass, affirms itself as a definitive sculpture. Industrial Time (2010), an enormous pendulum (suspended but a few centimetres from the ground) symbolically brings us back to our own existence, while three giant hourglasses titled Chronometers (2010) represent the Earth’s transformation by air, water and fire, conjuring images of a temporal dimension elusive to man: geologic time. Other tangible transformations are also conceptually explored. In works titled Ripple (2009) and Moon Shadow (2010) the movement of water and the cycles of the tides are suggested without any literal references: the artist achieves this through his extraordinary technical control of the medium. As a marker and testimony to his first artistic endeavours, a ceramic sculpture A Totem of Life (1978), reminds us that death also part of all forms of life⁷.

Detail of Moon Shadow, 2010, cast glass, 5 pieces, 28 x 53 x 5 cm

Donald Robertson’s glass works are an assertion of deep reflection and exceptional sensitivity.  His pieces transcend their materiality through exquisite plays of light and subtle contrasts in transparency and opacity. The contemporary yet intimate perception that Robertson has of the universe is from the point of view of a philosopher and/or scientist, and is splendidly embodied in an artist.

Written by Valérie Côté, for Espace VERRE.

Currently enrolled in the Masters of Fine Arts at Concordia University in Montreal, Valérie Côté is an art historian specializing in contemporary decorative arts.  For the past year she as worked at the Museum of Fine Arts as an assistant researcher and as a teaching assistant at Concordia.  She publishes regularly in specialized revues and is frequently invited to speak in educational institutions.

^2. This exhibition was presented at Espace VERRE, from April 22 to June 4, 2010

^3. Copernicus 2009 ; Blue Spira 2002

^4. Vessel II 1997 ; Spiral form or Vortex

^5. Memory II, 2008

^6. Voyages series

^7. Choice of works from the CHRONOS exhibition

Julia Reimer: Magician of Light

Text by James D. Campbell

Birdhouse photo: John Dean

Julia Reimer’s glass works wed refreshing simplicity with exquisite formal refinement. They possess a beguiling eloquence that is at once the product of her imagination and the landscape she grew up in. Her work is infused with a specifically Prairie light and have a reductive ethos. Seldom, if ever, baroque, her forms bespeak a stoicism that is more ecstatic than pragmatic. I mean, they have pure joy in them, even as they inspire reflection.

Reimer is a true savant when it comes to seductive forms that are imbued with a luminosity almost magical in its mien. This luminosity is inborn and reminds me of nephrite mutton fat carvings dating from the Chinese Qianlong Dynasty (the 1780s). But, notably and remarkably, her creations are made out of glass, not jade.

Furthermore, her works have a minimalist tendency very much in keeping with the landscape she knows best. She has often spoken of how her designs are directly inspired by the landscape of her childhood home in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta. She has said: “That’s where I acquired an appreciation for the crisp prairie light, and the undulating hills and grasslands carved by wind and water that influence my artistic vision”. Born from nature, nurtured in memory, fired in the alembic of her imagination, her glass inventions are overwhelmingly seductive. So her stoicism also has its sensuous counterpart. She has said: “My love of the landscape has led to an aesthetic based on beautiful simplicity of form and light.” This aesthetic is wholly and uniquely her own. She is a magician in capturing light, and making the glass that its vessel and conduit modern in design and almost primordially tonal and expressive in material presence. Indeed, these phenomenal creations in blown glass find worthy antecedents in stark bronze Tibetan singing bowls and 14thcentury Vietnamese celadon glazed bowls.

It has been said that when Julia Reimer was first initiated into the craft of glass blowing, she instinctively knew she had discovered the ideal medium for expressing her creativity. She says, “I was always drawn to the muted luminescence of river ice on bright brisk days in winter. So when I had a chance to combine the essence of light, color and movement with a material, it was a perfect fit.” A perfect fit, indeed, for she has become the foremost magician of light working in the medium of glass.

Her original design sensibility and technical virtuosity have been recognized through several awards and scholarships and general acclaim, but is demonstrated, above all, in the works she is showing now at Art Mûr.

Texte de Nathalie Guimond

Clearnest photo: John Dean

Julia Reimer aime Martin Heidegger, surtout dans cette manière qu’il a de proposer que les oeuvres d’art entretiennent une double relation avec la nature : elles ne peuvent exister sans la matière et conservent toujours des propriétés physiques – la forme, la couleur.  Elles n’existent cependant pas simplement en et par la matière, puisqu’elles transcendent leur matérialité par une couche de sens fondamentale.

Dans ses oeuvres récentes, Reimer met en lumière cette mécanique du contraste entre le désir humain de contrôler son environnement par l’entremise de la machine et l’indomptable force de régénération de la nature. Par l’intercession du verre, Reimer explore l’illusion de contrôle de l’humain sur le monde, la métamorphose du paysage, la tension inhérente à cette relation et la beauté inaltérable qui résiste néanmoins au refaçonnage humain.

La matière

Le verre est fabriqué à partir de sable, de soude et de chaux, qu’on chauffe à une température élevée pour rendre le mélange liquide.  On manipule ensuite ce dernier quand il est malléable pour lui donner la forme voulue, qu’il conserve en refroidissant. La recette n’a pas bien changé au fil des siècles, mais la chimie en a raffiné les techniques : l’ajout de potasse et de plomb améliore la qualité du verre, le cobalt, le souffre et d’autres minéraux lui donnent des couleurs ; les possibilités sont grandes. Julia Reimer le souffle et le sculpte en des formes organiques et le combine à d’autres matériaux comme l’acier, la pierre, le bois et le béton. Ses objets sculpturaux témoignent de la grande flexibilité du médium et donnent naissance à des herbes, des nids, des petites choses aquatiques et aériennes, presque des colonies de créatures, parfois. Entre fluidité, opacité, légèreté, unicité et accumulation, il se crée un espace où se conjuguent, tout en délicatesse, des traces d’un monde qu’il faut apprendre à regarder avec des yeux neufs.

La patience

L’idée derrière ce corpus d’oeuvres est tirée d’un souvenir d’enfance, où la petite Julia rendait visite à son père travaillant sur un puits de pétrole dans les prairies d’Alberta. L’immensité des gisements et les jeux d’exploration parmi les granges abandonnées et les bâtiments de fermes ont créés une impression persistante dans son esprit. Tandis que la force furieuse des machines était à l’oeuvre, la nature reprenait néanmoins ses droits sur les efforts des humains : l’herbe qui pousse entre les fentes du béton, dans les fondations des bâtiments, l’érosion du vent, le bois retournant à la terre. L’esthétique de Julia Reimer est née de la fraîcheur de la lumière sur les douces collines et les prairies battues par les vents.

Pour Reimer, le verre était le matériau tout indiqué pour explorer cette idée du paysage canadien transformé par le développement industriel. La qualité virginale du verre et sa fragilité transmettent le sens de cette tension qu’elle cherche à illustrer. Les pièces de la série L’Attente sont des modélisations de ces changements de notre environnement et surtout, de la lente et patiente résilience des choses vivantes.

Julia Reimer a grandi et vit toujours dans une petite ville des prairies albertaines. Après avoir étudié le verre soufflé et le design dans des établissements

scolaires traditionnels, elle a poursuivi ses recherches par des voyages d’études en Écosse, aux États-Unis, en Espagne, en France, en

Hongrie et au Japon. Lauréate de plusieurs prix d’excellence, elle a fondé le Firebrand Glass Studio avec son mari Tyler Rock.

Suspended Stories: Tyler Rock and Almighty Voice

Text by Amber Berson

17 Voices photo: Andrew Gene

It is often easier to understand history as a clear and simple division between right and wrong, good and evil, black and white. Tyler Rock’s latest series Frontier challenges the viewer to consider the shades of grey contained within a particular historical event – specifically the ‘Almighty Voice’ incident, which refers to a young Cree man’s struggle with the North-West Mounted Police in Saskatchewan in 1893. Almighty Voice supposedly butchered a stray cow without a permit to feed his family and was arrested. Believing he was to be hung, Almighty Voice escaped from jail, eventually shot and killed an officer searching for him and became involved in one of the biggest manhunts in early Canadian history. Diverging versions of the story continue to divide communities, although all agree that the incident had a major impact on the Riel Rebellion and the shaping of Saskatchewan. It is a history always being retold, pivoting between readings of the same story.

Rock’s work – representing a personal interpretation of the story – aims to highlight the parts of history open to discussion. His glass works act as bridges between the present and the past; presenting a glimpse into a history with which we otherwise have no direct connection. And as with all objects, we are impelled to apply interpretive readings to his works, to reshape the histories to meet our needs. However, Frontier is meant only to illustrate a point of view in a much larger story. Rock’s work is neither confrontation nor translation; the artist refuses to tell us which story to believe. Instead, Rock has created a snapshot of a moment that has come to partially represent the history of a place.

Rock constructs objects imbued with history that become mementos in their own right. Through reinterpretation of the events, Rock’s Frontier series positions the artist as storyteller. Rock shifts the reading of history to reflect the way a small incident between two communities has left a permanent scar on place. Confirming that locations and national histories affect personal identity, Frontier is as much an imagining of all the untold moments of the ‘Almighty Voice incident’ as it is a manifestation of Rock’s own relationship to his past. Literally suspending a moment in the story, Frontier is not the story of Almighty Voice or of his impact on Saskatchewan history. It is one artist’s illustration of a moment in history that is as much about the narrator as it is about the narrative.

1895-1897 : L’incident d’Almighty Voice

Texte de Anne-Marie St-Jean Aubre

Frontier photo: Andrew Gene

Longtemps accolé au domaine de l’artisanat, le verre n’est pourtant pas absent en art contemporain. Simplement, on le trouve plus souvent comme matériau approprié que comme médium travaillé par les oeuvres. C’est que produire une oeuvre d’art en verre demande de l’artiste bien plus qu’un concept à transposer; façonner le verre exige inévitablement de lui la maîtrise d’un savoir-faire technique rappelant la proximité entre l’ouvrage de l’artiste et celui de l’artisan. Les frontières entre art et décoratif d’une part, et art et design d’autre part étant plutôt floues, deux pièges guettent la verrerie d’art. Lorsque l’objet en verre ne semble répondre qu’à une exigence esthétique, il risque d’être qualifié de décoratif et d’être associé à la sphère des métiers d’art – où la maîtrise technique est ce qui est valorisé. De l’autre côté, lorsque cette part d’esthétisme est orientée par un concept, l’objet en verre risque d’être rapproché de l’univers du design, où la nécessité de répondre à un besoin préalablement identifié s’ajoute au savoir-faire technique et ce, dans l’optique du fonctionnalisme. Comment reconnaître alors l’oeuvre d’art en verre? Selon Helmut Ricke, directeur de collections au Museum Kunst Palast à Düsseldorf : « La ligne de démarcation [entre art et artisanat d’art] continue à se situer là où le matériau, loin de se limiter à la représentation de la matière même et de sa fascination propre, est mis au service d’un concept artistique1. »

Artiste de l’ouest canadien, Tyler Rock enseigne au Collège d’art et de design de l’Alberta depuis plusieurs années. Délaissant son travail formel découlant d’une étude de la tradition esthétique du récipient, Rock adopte une approche résolument plus conceptuelle avec sa série Almighty Voice. L’inspiration derrière ces nouvelles oeuvres est un incident historique qui eût lieu à la fin du 19e siècle près de l’endroit où l’artiste grandit en Saskatchewan. Il impliquait Almighty Voice, un Amérindien arrêté injustement pour avoir tué un boeuf ne lui appartenant pas, et la gendarmerie royale du Canada. Retrouvé par le sergent Colebrook quelques jours après s’être échappé de sa cellule, Voice tua par balle le policier. En cavale durant plusieurs mois, il fut tué à son tour lors d’une embuscade près de la réserve One Arrow en 18972.

Employant le verre non pas pour ses propriétés intrinsèques mais comme médium apte à matérialiser sa réflexion sur la construction de l’Histoire, Rock propose une série de cloches de verre abritant de petites natures mortes composées de branches d’arbre et de pieces de verre, notamment une tête d’oiseau rappelant la grue, le pictogramme de la nation des Sauteux des plaines (à laquelle appartenait le père d’Almighty Voice). Sortis de leur contexte et préservés sous une cloche, ces objets en évoquent d’autres, des artefacts et reliques précieusement conservés en tant que traces authentiques légitimant le déroulement d’un passé auquel nous n’avons plus accès. Comme le souligne Tyler Rock, l’Histoire officielle, un tracé linéaire départageant le noir du blanc, ne rend souvent compte que d’un point de vue tranché sur un événement autrement plus nuancé3. Elle est écrite à partir de faits, de témoignages mais aussi d’objets appelés à jouer le rôle d’artefacts culturels. Ni fonctionnelles ni uniquement esthétiques, les sculptures en verre soufflé proposées par Tyler Rock rendent compte de la vision du monde de l’artiste, qui adopte ici une position critique quant à l’apparente transparence des discours historiques.

by Brad Copping

I did a lot of thinking about the Glass Art Association of Canada before I stepped up as president; what it means, what it can be, and this upcoming conference in Montreal has got me thinking about the community part of that again.

This is a community of people who have a passion involving glass, (a community which is represented by the material and not the passion) which is separated by such large distances that it is only at events like this conference that we are able to physically get together.   They may not be part of the very small community that exists around us as we go about our ‘day to day’, but then that might be a good thing.  I guess what I’m getting at is that we are all a part of different communities and they vary greatly in size and intensity, from the most intimate one, all under the same roof; to the one around a particular glass furnace, set of kilns, or a particular gallery (or coffee shop or bar or hardware store); to the ones that connect us with people we rarely see, but we relate to because of our ruling passions.   We are social beings who often need intense privacy.  Living rural allows me that privacy, but sometimes it makes me a little squirrelly and I need to connect with people who understand the passion, who are gripped by their own version of it, and who somehow, like myself, have used glass to mediate that passion.

Our 2010 Montreal Conference, Transparent Transformation/Transformation Transparente, brings together 3 Canadian artists who have used glass in making their work, and all of them have been awarded Canada’s highest official honour for following their passions.  I took this opportunity to ask Peter Powning, our key note speaker, Kevin Lockau, this year’s laureate of the GAAC Life time Achievement Award, and Ione Thorkelsson, the recipient of the 2010 Saidye Bronfman Award, for their thoughts about community and what it has meant to them.

Peter Powning

The photo of Peter in his studio was created by Greg Klassen and is shown here with his kind permission.

I live in many overlapping communities starting with “the community of one”, that overactive cast of characters in my head vying for attention.  As a rural artist I don’t have a community of fellow practitioners that I see regularly.  Events like conferences and symposia are gatherings of the tribe that provides a chance to maintain friendships, stimulate the creative juices and top up on technical knowledge.  I get a nice sense of belonging at these events where we all have so much in common.  There is a generosity of spirit, mutual respect and understanding as well as a readiness to have a good time that I really value.

The other communities that I rely on are family, our rural hamlet, and a huge range of local and scattered friends.  Our local pub, 16 kilometers away in the county market town of Sussex is another essential community in my life.  Late Friday afternoon people from the hinterland gather to have a pint or two of local brew, swap yarns and laugh at and with each other.  It’s a great way to wind down.

I now also seem to have an internet community that consists of a motley array of old friends and new, some of them I’ve never laid eyes on.  I keep in touch with people I only see at SOFA who live in Australia, England, California etc.  The internet provides a way to keep in touch with friends is a real benefit despite its myriad other distractions.

I’ve wasted a lot of time in my life wishing for the perfect community where all the great people I know would come together and do things right.  I think I’ve come to realize that no such place can exist and that many friendships rely on distance to make them work.  I think it’s also important to be rubbing up against people with diverse opinions, occupations and abilities.  Valuing the communities that we’ve got can be a chore, but I’ve found that being engaged with them gives me a deeper understanding of who I am and the value of belonging.

Kevin Lockau

Kevin Lockau on the edge of Georgian Bay

Communities define who I am.  There was the Sheridan community, the community of Bancroft, my neighbours and the community of family.  When talking gardening or the weather or next winter’s wood with my neighbours, I feel part of that community.  I am a local.  That is my existence at that moment defined.  When I am carving stone, or talking to other carvers, I am being defined by that activity not only by others but also by myself.  The communities are circles, defined areas and they overlap for sure, but whom I see myself as at this moment is related to the circle that I am walking in and the circles, which overlap it.

I think the Sheridan glass community was a very defining and consuming one, and eventually I needed an escape to privacy (and a reality check).  I have always had it in my mind to be less attached to the material than for a passion for making.  The technical shop talk so easily a badge of the blower or studio owner was never one that I could contribute to or want to partake in.  As a contrast, the stone sculptors I have associated with seldom if ever held court on technical matters. Perhaps this is the nature of the beast.  I keep thinking of Erwin Eisch’s comment about his art being in painting on glass because his family did it, the town factory survived on it, and this is what one did.  Most of us have the options presented by a full palette of materials to give expression.  I am discovering now just how wide ranging it actually is.

I find it helpful at times to understand the world by looking at society as a herd of grazing animals, a really large herd, constantly on the move, heads down.  And the artist is often the outsider – on the edge of the herd and the herd mentality.  The important idea in this metaphor is that from the edge, with some distance, the view of the herd dynamic is clearer and sometimes is understandable.  As well, you have an unobstructed view of the horizon’s potential.  While you can laugh off most irrelevant stampedes, being on the outside of the herd does leave you feeling vulnerable and solitary.  You seek autonomy, but the herd has its pull, its safety, and instinct tells the social animal to keep close.   However, you chose your distance, hone your survival skills, and see yourself as a visionary grazer.  Sometimes the outsider finds him or herself in a good grazing area, or standing where there is an especially stunning vantage point, and the herd envelops.  For the outsider, this is overwhelming, and she has to find the edge again, re-establish the comfort between the outer and inner edges.  In realizing that some of the herd was aware of her all along, that all herds produce edge animals or sentinels, and that they are a necessary part of the constantly changing and dynamic herd you can see that in all communities there is an important structure of support as well.  One does not feel alone struggling in the wilderness.  As social animals the need for that structure can sustain the herd.  And as always in a herd there are those that see themselves on the edge of it.

Ione Thorkelsson

I have always felt that I live on the periphery of many communities. Even in the most literal sense, I live on an escarpment, which is the dividing line between a French speaking community up the hill to the west and an English speaking community at the base of the escarpment to the east.  I am at home in both communities, but in both cases my place is on the edge not at the centre. Similarly I am at the edge of the Manitoba craft community.  The Manitoba Craft Council itself, of which I was a founding member in the early 70s, has always had to struggle to keep its centre, being made up of many scattered and independent crafts people.  I also find a sense of community with the multifarious Winnipeg/Manitoba visual arts scene which itself is driven by an odd but fertile creative dynamic that I suppose must also have something to do with a sense being distant from the centre.

So, in general, I am perfectly comfortable with my position relative to the Canadian glass community: being in the centre geographically, but for all practical purposes, being on the periphery.  This can be, in fact, a very advantageous place to find oneself.  I can visit as sort of a distant cousin in any of these communities.  Generally I am welcomed, sometimes I am only vaguely recognized, but I am able to gain access if only for a short time. From my first glass blowing workshop at Sheridan (taught by Clark Guettel, with Norman Faulkner as technician), I acquired contacts east and west. Back then, contact was by phone or letter (a memorable handwritten letter from Norman with sketches was the basis for my first glass furnace design). Now, with the internet, life on the periphery has become much, much easier. Glass, as you well know, has never been an easy material to work with and perhaps because of that it has attracted technically adventurous people. It is still evolving and there is always new information, new materials, and new techniques to work out. The internet, coupled with the openness of the Canadian glass community, keeps information available to me.

Part of Norman Faulkner's 1974 letter to Ione Thorkelsson

For Norman Faulkner’s complete letter follow this link.

There is however one major disadvantage to living on the periphery: not having answers to the questions you never thought to ask (the Rumsfeldian ‘unknown unknowns‘). Consequently, my techniques end up being rather unorthodox because I don’t actually see these things being done and no one who uses these techniques sees me work; so I fill in the blanks as best I can and hope for the best. It sometimes takes a long time to get results, and occasionally I discover something useful.

I have learned to live with and take advantage of life outside the known world. When I first decided to set up a studio here one of my main reasons was this very distance. I knew that whenever my muses speak to me, they whisper very quietly. I need quiet time and quiet space to hear them. That part seems to work for me, but having chosen a technically difficult material I still need the generosity of many communities to survive.

The latest incarnation of the notorious glass fashion show is receiving a stylish makeover via the support of many organizations.  Verre Couture, which is set to close out the Glass Art Association of Canada’s conference Transparent Transformation, will occur on Saturday May 29th at the belvedere of the Montreal Science Centre.  The mix of cutting edge fashion design and glass art is set to take the event to the next level and is poised to be one of the major events during Montreal’s year long Ville de Verre.   GAAC would like to extend their sincere thanks for the generous support from the following organizations:

Centre des Sciences de Montréal

Bureau de la mode Montreal

Société de développement des entreprises culturelles

Musée McCord

L’Oréal Paris

La Salle College

Montréal ville de verre/City of Glass

The Glass Art Association of Canada greatly appreciates the support we have received from many organizations in preparing for our upcoming conference Transparent Transformation.  The conference, being hosted by Espace VERRE in Montreal will commence May 26th and run until May 30th.  Many thanks goes out to these organizations.

Cégep du Vieux Montréal

Centre des Sciences de Montréal

Société de développement des entreprises culturelles

Canada Council for the Arts/Conseil des arts du Canada

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts/Musée des beaux arts de Montréal

Heritage Canada/Patrimoine canadien

Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec

GeisterBlitz Glass Art Works

Montréal ville de verre/City of Glass

By Brad Copping

The opening reception for Christy Haldane’s latest exhibition at Pentimento Fine Art Gallery in Toronto happened on a beautiful spring evening.  The opening was well attended by gallery goers from the Queen East neighbourhood known as ‘the Beaches’ and who even managed to come up with a couple of red dots.   I for one will take that as another sign of positive changes coming.

”

While the work Christy has chosen to feature in Reconstructions is primarily focused on her series of fused window glass panels mounted on wall hung stainless steel frames, she has also included several fused and carved glass and stone free standing sculptures.  Her work is reflective of the environment in which she and her young family live, near Stony Lake, Ontario and it follows the many lines which lead her back to that home.

Christy received support from the Ontario Arts Council to create the work for Reconstructions.  The exhibition at Pentimento Fine Arts Gallery, 1164 Queen Street East, in Toronto is on from April 29^th to May 30^th.

Ione Thorkelsson, Tick, 1998. Cast glass. 43cm x 46.5cm x 23cm ht.

I remember much about the summer of 1998. I had just arrived in Winnipeg for a summer internship at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG). I recall the excitement about finally beginning my museum career, the isolation of starting anew in unfamiliar surroundings, the glorious prairie heat, and of course, the relentless mosquitoes. It was also the summer I became acquainted with the work of IoneThorkelsson, whose glass practice was the focus of the WAG exhibition Ione Thorkelsson: The Unwilling Bestiary, then on view.

J’ai un bon souvenir de l’été 1998. Récemment arrivée à Winnipeg pour une résidence d’été à la galerie Winnipeg Art (WAG), je me souviens de l’excitation à débuter enfin ma carrière de conservateur dans un musée, l’isolement si nouveau dans ce vaste environnement, cette atmosphère chaude des prairies et, bien sûr, les moustiques voraces. Ce fut également l’année ou je découvris l’Art de Ione Thorkelssonm, dont le travail étais à l’honneur dans l’exposition courante du WAG Ione thorkelsson: The Unwilling Bestiary.

Fallen Wing

An elegantly minimalistic exhibition curated by former WAG Chief Curator, Thomas Smart, it featured tall, eye-level, black pedestals which melded seamlessly into the black tile floor. Atop them – dramatically lit – perched works in cast glass that defied typical classification. Part vessel, part creature, wholly imagined, these works were unlike anything I had experienced. Cast glass vestiges of assembled parts – wings, vertebrae, skulls, feet – united by the vessel core, Ione’s work forever imprinted on my mind.

Cette élégante quoique modeste exposition organisée par l’ancien conservateur en chef du WAG, Thomas Smart, présentait d’imposants trépieds (socles) noirs grand comme un homme qui fusionnaient fluidement avec le plancher de tuiles noires. Surmontés d’œuvres en pâte de verre défiant la classification classique, éclairés de façon spectaculaire, partie vaisseau, partie créature et entièrement imaginées, ces œuvres ne ressemblaient à rien de ce que j’avais connu. Des vestiges en pâte de verre de plusieurs organes réassemblés – ailes, vertèbres, crânes, pieds – unis par le cœur du vaisseau… Ces images marquantes du travail d’Ione furent à jamais gravée dans mon esprit.

Fast forward to Spring 2010, and as the WAG’s Chief Curator, I remain as mesmerized and captivated by Ione’s work as I was eleven years ago. Over the passing years I have had the pleasure to work with the artist on exhibitions and acquisitions, and most recently on the WAG’s nomination to recognize her with the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in Craft. Ione’s journey to this place and time in her life is one of resilience, commitment, conviction and, undeniably, risk. The recognition of the Saidye Bronfman award affirms what those of us who champion her work already know; she is one of the most creative and innovative artists working in craft media today in Canada.

Maintenant conservateur en Chef du WAG, je demeure aussi captivée et hypnotisée par le travail d’Ione que je l’étais il y a onze ans. Au fil du temps, j’ai eu le plaisir de travailler au montage d’expositions et à faire l’acquisition d’œuvres de l’artiste. Récemment, sur la recommandation du WAG, on lui a décerné le Prix Saidye-Bronfman pour l’excellence métiers d’art. Le parcours qui a mené Ione jusqu’à présent est un exemple de résilience, d’engagement, de conviction et incontestablement audacieux par ses risques encourus. La reconnaissance de ce prix confirme tous ceux qui ont louangé son travail jusqu’à maintenant: elle est définitivement chef de file dans l’innovation et la créativité dans les métiers d’art canadiens.

Ione Thorkelsson, recipient of this year's Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in fine crafts.

Born and raised in the Interlake district of Manitoba, Ione remembers being attracted to glass as an art form upon viewing a display of glass at the Czech pavilion at Expo ’67. In 1971 she began experimenting with lampworking. This led to travel through Europe to visit glass museums and factories, and in June 1973 Ione attended a glass course at Sheridan College. This limited introduction to the medium provided her with the confidence and the enthusiasm to embark upon her dream, and the following spring she set up her first studio in an abandoned chicken house on her parents’ land outside of Stony Mountain, MB.

Originaire du Manitoba, c’est à Expo 67 qu’Ione ressentit pour la première fois une attirance face au verre, lorsqu’elle visita le pavillon Tchèque.  En 1971,  elle débutât ses expérimentations avec le chalumeau. Cela la mena à traverser l’Europe pour visiter des musés de verre et des ateliers, puis, de prendre un cours au collège Sherridan. Cette introduction limitée au médium lui a toutefois fourni la confiance et l’enthousiasme à poursuivre son rêve, et le printemps suivant, elle créa son premier studio dans un poulailler abandonné sur les terres de ses parents, à Stony Mountain, au Manitoba.

Ione’s early work concentrated on clear glass, using bubbles and limited colours as decoration, allowing her to take the time to improve her skill and technique. In the mid-1970s, she moved her studio to its present location in Roseisle, MB, a wooded acreage on the edge of the Pembina escarpment. Here she perfected her signature commercial work of blown glass vessels featuring abstracted lines of colour layered through gathers. These pieces were essential to her livelihood, providing her with the means to maintain a hot glass studio. Ione is one of only a few women to operate her own glass studio in Canada. Having become very resourceful, she even built her own equipment, including an electric furnace.

Les premiers travaux d’Ione se sont concentrés sur du verre clair, utilisant des bulles et des couleurs limitée comme décoration, ce qui lui permet de prendre le temps d’améliorer ses compétences en la technique. Dans le milieu des années 1970, elle a déménagé son atelier à son emplacement actuel à Roseisle, MB, un âcre boisée sur le bord de l’escarpement du Pembina. Ici, elle perfectionne son travail qui devient sa marque de commerce: des vaisseaux en verre soufflé, aux lignes de couleurs abstraites entre les couches de verre. Ces pièces ont été essentielles pour sa subsistance, lui fournissant les moyens de maintenir un studio de verre chaud. Ione est l’une des rares femmes à exploiter son propre atelier de verre au Canada. Devenu très débrouillard, elle a même construit son propre équipement, y compris une fournaise électrique.

Unlike ceramics, which enjoys a long and considerable tradition in Manitoba, glass is a relative newcomer on the scene. There were no schools or facilities in the province to offer instruction in glass techniques and processes in the 1970s when Ione was embarking upon her career in glass. Then, as today, glass artists are few in the province, especially those that achieve standing within national circles. As a result, Ione is largely self-taught, driven by her appreciation and fascination for the art form. She works in relative isolation, networking with peers elsewhere by phone or internet.

Chrysalis

Contrairement à la céramique, qui jouit d’une longue tradition au Manitoba, le verre est un nouveau médium sur la scène. Il n’y avait pas d’écoles ou d’atelier dans la province à offrir un enseignement techniques de verre dans les années 1970 lorsqu’Ione lança sa carrière. Comme aujourd’hui les artistes de verre sont peu et épars dans la province, en particulier ceux reconnus nationalement. En conséquence, Ione est en grande partie autodidacte, poussé par son appréciation et sa fascination pour cette forme d’art. Elle travaille dans un isolement relatif, restant connectée avec le téléphone ou par Internet.

The present direction in Ione’s work emerged in the 1990s, when success with grant funding allowed her to concentrate on cast glass, a compelling new focus for her. This new work took over a decade to develop and demanded precision, strong technical skills, research and experimentation in process. The location of Ione’s studio and home, on the cusp of an ancient escarpment, has played an immense role in this body of work. As her website details, “From the vantage point of her studio, visible history, or at least the visible past that stretches away beneath one’s gaze, is vast if not to say vaguely monumental, and if the associated geological timescale could somehow be compressed, everything in the landscape before us would be seen to be on the move.”[i]

L’orientation actuelle des travaux Ione a émergé dans les années 1990, lorsqu’une subvention lui a permis de se consacrer à la pâte de verre, une  facette irrésistiblement nouvelle pour elle. Ce travail a demandé plus d’une décennie à développer et a exigé précision, des compétences techniques solides, et beaucoup de recherche et d’expérimentation. Sis au bord d’un escarpement millénaire, l’emplacement de la maison et de l’atelier a joué un rôle définitif dans ce travail. Elle en parle d’ailleurs sur son site web “Du point de vue de son atelier, l’histoire visible, ou du moins le passé visible qui s’étend loin sous le regard, est vaste pour ne pas dire vaguement monumental, et si les époques géologique pouvaient se superposer sous nos yeux, l’espace d’une seconde, tout dans le paysage serait perçu comme en déplacement.”ⁱ

Two Footed Bowl

The initial works – footed vessels – were exhibited in a self-titled 1993 exhibition at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba curated by Glenn Allison. The more developed sculptural forms were subsequently shown in The Unwilling Bestiary at the WAG in 1998. Though vestigial vessels, the works no longer served the function of containment. Legs cast from birds and animals were attached to blown forms, and then refired. Creatures with translucent wings, spindly legs, and odd protrusions inhabited this fantastical world. Inspired by insects, birds, and plant forms, these organic, hybrid creations were captured in a frozen moment, at once elegant, arresting, and intangible. Their glass armatures suggested notions of aching fragility, melancholy and loss, hope and spiritual rejuvenation.

Le résultat de cet ouvrage –vaisseaux à pieds- a été exposé en 1993 à la Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba. L’évolution sculpturale présenta ensuite The Unwilling Bestiary au WAG in 1998. Ces vestiges de vaisseaux ont depuis perdu  la fonction de contenant.  Des jambes d’oiseaux et d’autres animaux sont attaché à des formes soufflées, puis refusionées. Ces créatures aux ailes translucides, aux jambes grêles et aux protubérances incongrues peuplent ce monde fantastique. Inspirées par les oiseaux, les insectes et les plantes, ces créations organiques, hybrides, sont captées dans l’instant fugace de leur naissance, élégante et fragile. Elles évoques  la mélancolie, l’espoir, la perte, et le renouveau spirituel.

With the success of these early investigations, Ione was recognized with additional provincial and national grant funding. This allowed her to further explore her ideas, expanding in terms of both scale and resolved installation-work. Her self-curated 2004 exhibition at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, Fragments and 2 reconstructions: everything we know about the Tropocene, investigates would-be fossils from a fictive epoch, remnants of “previously unknown creatures cast in glass”. [ii]

Avec le succès de ces premières réalisations, Ione a reçu de nouvelles bourses et subventions autant provinciale que nationale. Cela lui a permis d’explorer plus en avant ses idées, d’augmenter la dimension de ses pièces et de recommencer son travail d’installation. Elle organisa son propre exposition en 2004 à la Gallerie Canadienne de la Céramique & du Verre, Fragments et 2 reconstructions: tout ce que nous savons de la Tropocene, une enquête sur les soi-disant fossiles d’une époque fictive, des restes de créatures inconnues figées dans le verre.”ⁱⁱ

Ione Thorkelsson, Arboreal fragments, 2004. Cast glass, wood, halogen lights. 240 cm h.

From the still stand of stark tree trunks composing Arboreal fragments—inset with glowing glass sections—to the large specimen mD31704—part bird/fish/whale whose skeleton hovers, free-floating in the gallery’s nether space—Ione’s invention of mutable forms push and pull between reality and the fantastic. So cleverly realized in vision and process, one stops questioning these “hypothetical pasts, reconstructed futures.”[iii]

Du restant d’un tronc d’arbre austère, qu’elle reconstruit avec des fragments de verre illuminés -Arboreal fragments— au gigantesque oiseau mD31704 –partie oiseau/poisson/baleine dont le squelette, en morceaux détachés, plane librement dans l’espace de la galerie. Les formes mutantes d’Ione nous font osciller entre réalité et fantastique. Si bien réalisé dans la vision et le processus, l’on cesse de questionner ces “passés hypothétique, futurs reconstruit.”ⁱⁱⁱ

Ione Thorkelsson, Fragments and 2 Reconstructions, 2004, Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.

Next, Ione completed her most challenging, involving, and innovative installation – Ossuary 501 – launched roughly simultaneously at two galleries in Toronto: Material Matters and the Toronto Free Gallery. Staged in 2006, it was later remounted into one, slightly larger installation in Ottawa at the Karsh-Masson Gallery in 2007 as Ossuary: bones as signifiers of human absence. Bones provide an undercurrent in Ione’s practice of the last decade; she is drawn to their tactile pleasures and perplexing curves. Decidedly not neutral, the artist recognizes bones as charged and visceral symbols of human absence, never denying their potency. With Ossuary she was able to achieve something, which curator/writer Virginia Eichhorn identifies as: “both personal and universal, that confronts darkness and despair, balanced with love and hopefulness.”[iv] The installation was profoundly haunting yet uplifting, exploiting the ephemeral nature of glass to communicate spiritual and deeply respectful concepts of death and loss.

Ensuite, Ione a complétée son installation la plus stimulante, compromettante et innovatrice – Ossuary 501 - lancée simultanément dans deux galeries à Toronto : Material Matters and the Toronto Free Gallery. Organisé en 2006, ces deux  expositions furent ensuite remodelé dans une seule installation, légèrement plus grande à la galerie Karsh-Masson d’ Ottawa en 2007 sous le titre Ossuary: bones as signifiers of human absence. Les os fournissent un courant sous-jacent dans la pratique d’Ione pendant la dernière décennie; elle en a tiré des plaisirs tactiles et des courbes inattendues. Décidément hors du commun, l’artiste reconnaît dans les os des symboles viscéraux d’absence humaine, ne niant jamais leur puissance. Avec l’Ossuaire elle a pu réaliser quelque chose, que le l’auteur/conservateur Virginia Eichhorn identifie comme : “tant l’annonce personnelle qu’universelle, qui confronte l’obscurité et le désespoir, équilibré avec l’amour et l’optimisme.”^iv L’installation était profondément obsédante avec l’exploitation de la nature éphémère du verre pour communiquer spirituellement avec un profond respect pour la mort et la perte.

Narrative

Currently, Ione is immersed in a body of work to be shown in September. The idea for this new work arises from a piece she created in 2008 entitled Acadia reconstruction: from memory in which she returned to the theme of invented anthropological and scientific investigation. Dissecting the notion of utopia, and the ultimate reality of dystopia, this new as-if-yet untitled installation will be a vitrified world which “by some sort of universal malicious error, falls short of (and defies) the ideal.”[v] Despite their flaws, their imperfections, and even their errors waiting to be made, the creatures inhabiting this body of work will rise to the mythic and heroic.

Présentement, Ione est immergé dans un travail de création qui sera exposé en septembre. L’idée pour ce nouveau travail résulte d’une pièce elle a créé en 2008 intitulée Acadia reconstruction: from memory dans laquelle elle a retourné au thème d’enquête anthropologique et scientifique inventée.  En disséquant la notion d’utopie et la réalité suprême de la dystopie, cette nouvelle installation non encore nommée sera un monde vitrifié qui, “par une sorte d’erreur universelle malicieuse, ne répond pas à l’idéal et le défie.“^v Malgré leurs défauts, leurs imperfections et même leurs erreurs latentes, les créatures peuplant cet univers deviendront mythiques et héroïques.

Matrix

Ione Thorkelsson is an artist of great courage and commitment. She has achieved national respect and recognition through innate skill, considerable self-investment and self-evaluation, sheer tenacity and an immense respect for the medium. Emerging from the barren and isolated prairie glass scene, to major exhibitions and collections in Toronto, Ottawa, Waterloo, and elsewhere, Ione is to be commended for seizing risk and following instinct. Taking inspiration from nature and its inhabitants, yet considering the potential for mutability and change, her forms are poetic investigations into the science of evolution and the spirituality of existence. Through the juxtaposition of formerly unrelated elements in unexpected ways, Ione’s creations strikingly animate the space they inhabit. Appearing at once recognizable yet vastly unfamiliar, Ione’s work remains distinctive, conceptually fresh, and technically brilliant within the scope of Canadian practice.

Ione Thorkelsson est une artiste de grand courage et d’engagement. Elle a mérité le respect national et la reconnaissance par son habileté innée, son investissement considérable et son auto-évaluation, sa ténacité sans faille et un immense respect pour le médium. Émergeant de la scène plutôt raréfiée et isolée des travailleurs du verre dans les prairies jusqu’aux expositions et collections majeures de Toronto, Ottawa, Waterloo et ailleurs, Ione doit être recommandée pour avoir pris des risques et suivi son instinct. En prenant l’inspiration de la nature et ses habitants, en considération du potentiel pour la mutabilité et le changement, ses formes sont des enquêtes poétiques dans la science de l’évolution et de la spiritualité existentielle. Par la juxtaposition de façon inattendue d’éléments autrefois sans rapport, les créations d’Ione animent de façon saisissante l’espace qu’elles peuplent. En apparaissant immédiatement reconnaissable encore que peu familier, les créations d’Ione sont distinctives, conceptuellement rafraichissante et techniquement brillante parmi l’art verrier canadien.

On behalf of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, I take much pleasure in congratulating Ione Thorkelsson on being awarded the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in Craft.

Au nom de la galerie Winnipeg Art, il me fait plaisir de féliciter Ione Thorkelsson pour la réception du Prix Saidye-Bronfman pour son excellence dans le métier.

[ii] Virginia Eichhorn, Mutable History: The Work of Ione Thorkelsson (2004).

[iii] www.thorkelsson.com

[iv] Virginia Eichhorn’s Ossuary (2007) for the Karsh-Masson Gallery.

[v] www.thorkelsson.com

By Brad Copping

Steven Tippin, Force, 218.5 x 92 x .95 cm, 2010

Steven Tippin, detail of Force, 2010

With two years of steady work under his belt, Steven Tippin has completed his MFA at RIT and produced a very impressive body of work in the process.  Tippin completed the three year Advanced Diploma in the Craft and Design Program in Glass at Sheridan College in Oakville, before heading down to Rochester, New York to work with Robin Cass and Michael Rogers.  He will be speaking at the Glass Art Association of Canada Conference in Montreal as part of the Graduates Presentation on Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 9 am.  Here he talks a bit about the work he has made for his MFA exhibition (by the way, the piece Force is 50 kilos of glass).

I think that my glass artwork is very similar to the techniques that inspire it. When I view the work I see elements of printmaking, sculpture, painting, photography, graphite drawing, halftone imagery and text. I also think that the repetition, overlapping, lack of vivid color and misleading perspective found in the work is very important when I create and critique my glass panels.

Steven Tippin, About, 56 x 45.75 x 11.5 cm, 2010

I make the glass panels by fusing together individual pieces of glass, called murini, into a thin flat panel. The “tubes” in the glass are a result of how the murini are made in the hot shop and are inside the glass, not painted on the surface. The finished panels have the illusion of depth that is much deeper than the physical ¼” of space created by the movement of the glass at a liquid state.

I feel that each work of art shown in this exhibition best showcases the elements found in my work that I feel are most important.  The highlighted characteristics of the work include the elements of painterly movement, sculptural form, contrasting visual versus physical texture, illusion of condensed space and the way that the work acts like a lens and distorts the world behind it. Although each piece is very different, a common color palette and a similar creation technique unite them. Studying at the Rochester Institute of Technology for my Masters of Fine Arts has allowed my to pursue work that would never have been possible otherwise. During my two years there I was able to push the movement in the work, the scale and use new techniques such as water jet cutting.

Tippin’s MFA Thesis Exhibition ran from April 2 to April 27, but is being held over for the month of May, 2010.  The exhibition is being held at Booksmart Studio, 250 North Goodman St, Rochester, NY 14607.  The gallery is open Monday to Friday 10am – 5 pm.

For more on Steven Tippin check out his website at www.steventippin.com

Steven Tippin, Gallery installation, 2010

By Brad Copping

Each year GAAC provides an opportunity for our members to apply for one of two grants of $1000.00.  Each grant is awarded to support the development of a project that benefits the artist’s studio practice and promotes excellence in Canadian glass.  One grant is awarded to a professional artist and one grant is awarded to a student currently enrolled in a glass program.  All members of GAAC are eligible to apply.  This year a total of 16 applications were received.

The Glass Art Association of Canada is pleased to announce the recipients for this year’s juried project grants.   Nathan Philips, from Edmonton, Alberta received the professional grant, and Myrianne Duquette-Giguere, who is currently a student at Espace VERRE, received the student grant.

Nathan Philips, Saffron Swirled, Blown Glass, Incalmo Technique 1.5” X 13.5” dia.

Nathan Philips, Red Murrine Bowl,Blown Glass, 5” x 9.5” dia.

Nathan Philips’ project involves constructing a mini mobile hotshop and conducting glassblowing demonstrations for the 5th annual Kaleido Family Arts Festival in Edmonton on September 9th-11th, 2010.

Myrianne Duquette-Giguere plans to participate in three screen printing workshops at Ateliers Graff in Montreal to learn a variety of new printmaking techniques and processes.  She will then incorporate these new techniques in her glasswork to create a large-scale painting on glass.

Myrianne Duquette-Giguère, Untitled, Enamels on glass, 6’’x 6’

Myrianne Duquette-Giguère, Elle avait une langue de boeuf, qu’elle exhibait comme elle le pouvait, Acrylic on canvas, oil pastel, 14’’x 14’’

The juror’s for this year’s grants were Lou Lynn, Lucy Roussel, and Catherine Labonté and we would like to thank them for their time and thoughtful consideration in this endeavor.  GAAC’s volunteer coordinator for the project grants is Rachael Wong.

By Brad Copping

French translation by Google Translator

Benjamin Kikkert, Emerald Currents, 2009, glass, 27cm x 65cm x 18cm, photo: Tom Bilenkey

Benjamin Kikkert recently put together an exhibition he titled ‘Winter’s Edge’.   The work was on display in the Craft Corridor vitrines from November 13, 2009 to January 3, 2010.  In an interview he did with the video team from the centre he talks about this new work and where it comes from as he continues to push his own boundaries.

Bejamin Kikkert récemment mis sur pied une exposition qu’il intitula «Winter’s Edge. Les travaux ont été exposés dans les vitrines du corridor bateaux de Novembre 13, 2009 au 3 Janvier 2010. Dans une interview qu’il a fait avec l’équipe vidéo du centre, il parle de ce nouveau travail et d’où il vient, comme il continue de repousser ses propres limites.

In his artist statement for the exhibition he states that, “winter clutches our world like no other season.  It strips warmth and vegetation, leaving a starkly simplified landscape.  In its icy grasp a frigid beauty emerges with a medley of smooth and jagged textures.  Winter’s Edge is a series of sculptural and functional objects crafted with this diverse beauty in mind.”

Dans sa déclaration d’artiste pour l’exposition, il affirme que  “l’hiver embrayages notre monde pas comme les autres saisons. Il bandes de chaleur et de la végétation, laissant un paysage nettement simplifiée. Dans sa glace saisir une beauté glaciale émerge avec un mélange de textures lisses et dentelées. Winter’s Edge est une série d’objets sculpturaux et fonctionnel conçu avec cette beauté diverse à l’esprit”

Benjamin Kikkert, Water's Edge 23, 2009, photo: Tom Bilenkey

Benjamin Kikkert is a graduate of the Sheridan College Craft & Design Program. Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, he has worked extensively throughout the mountains, plains and coastlines of western Canada and his past work clearly reflects that environment.  This new work exhibits a wonderful broadening of those horizons.

Benjamin Kikkert est diplômé de l’artisanat Sheridan College et conception du programme. Née et élevée à Vancouver, en Colombie-Britannique, il a beaucoup travaillé dans les montagnes, les plaines et les côtes de l’ouest du Canada et son travail passé reflète clairement que l’environnement. Ce nouvel ouvrage présente un élargissement de ces merveilleux horizons.

Benjamin Kikkert, Safe Passage, 15cm x 33cm x 14cm, Glass, 2009.