By Julia Reimer

November has been declared Canada Month in the Glass Studio at the Jam Factory.  During this month there will be several well-known Canadian glass artists either creating work at the Jam Factory or doing presentations about their work.  Some of the artists that will be infusing the Jam with some Canadian culture are as follows.

Julia Reimer

Julia Reimer will be the artist in residence at the Jam Factory for the month of November.  During that time, she will be doing a special project in the Glass Studio developing a series of work that reflects on nature’s ability to reclaim itself.  Julia has resided in Adelaide for the past nine months and during this time has researched the influence of the landscape on Australian craft design and examined how a different landscape, natural environment and culture inspire and influence craft artists.  During this project, she will create pieces with the associates in the Jam glass program, each of which, through their forms and texture, allude to the generative forces in nature.  Julia will also give an artist talk on her practice on November 2^nd.

Clear Nest and Red Nest by Julia Reimer

Tyler Rock

Artist and instructor Tyler Rock will be at Jam Factory for an artist talk and to demonstrate his work in the glass studio on November 7^th.  Tyler is currently doing his Masters in Visual Art by research at the University of South Australia in Adelaide.  During his Masters he has focused on the notion of a craft object as a false artefact, and its engagement with phenomena.  Specifically, his research is exploring the use of crafted objects as ‘instruments’ in order to engage phenomenological experience within site-specific environments.  As well, he is an instructor at the UNISA glass department.

 

Caroline Ouellette and Patrick Primeau

 

For a distinct perspective of Canadian glass, Caroline Ouellette and Patrick Primeau will be at Jam Factory for an artist talk and hot glass demo on November 14th.  Caroline is currently also doing her Masters in Visual Art by research at the University of South Australia.  The focus of her Masters is curiosity and the mechanism of seduction.  Patrick is renting time at the Jam Factory to create his work as well as working as an assistant for many glass artists within the large glass arts community in Adelaide that is based out of the Jam Factory.

 

Christine Cholewa

 

Christine Cholewa works with five other talented artists as part of the Glass Studio management team, which runs the Glass Studio at Jam Factory.  She is the organizer of Canada Month.  Christine was born near Toronto in 1979 and is the granddaughter of farmers who migrated from Poland and the Ukraine after the war.  Growing up on a vegetable farm is one of her favourite childhood memories.  After she graduated from Alberta College of Art and Design with her Bachelor of Fine Art, she made the long journey to Adelaide to participate in the two-year Associate Training Program at the Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design.  As well as working at the Jam Factory, she has a space at the beautiful Blue Pony studio. She enjoys making of all kinds, glassblowing, gardening, good food, and trying to learn the ukulele and piano accordion.

 

 

Wireless Connection by Christine Cholewa

 

 

Jaan Poldaas (another Canadian) will be around telling Canadian jokes and helping out!  Brad Bonar (another Canadian who works at the Jam) will be filming some of these events to put up on the internet and link this with the Glass Art Association of Canada web site.

 

There is a vibrant glass community in Adelaide that has a significant influence on Australian glass and the hub of this community is the Jam Factory. Perhaps, for this moment, given the number of Canadians that are working at the Jam Factory there can be a small exchange of ideas between these two similar but distant glass communities.

Tyler Rock

Tyler Rock

By Jocelyne Prince

This video documentation is of a live event held at K-Arts in Seoul, Korea. A makeshift tree construction is covered with hot glass “clouds”. Four teams of Korean women glass blowers work to the sounds of French musette music. They are producing mold blown glass that is then placed, while still hot, on the limbs of the tree. The performance is an attempt to re-enact the Asian phenomena of cherry blossom viewing.

Due to the short but intense life span of the cherry blossom, Buddhists liken it to mortality, to the ephemeral and temporal conditions of life. Similarly much of the hot glass breaks as the tree is covered with glass parts; the tree ignites with small fires – a proverbial burning bush.

Cherry Blossom Live Event from jocelyne prince on Vimeo.

Jocelyne Prince

From Museum of Vancouver

Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver is an exhibition about Vancouver’s love/hate relationship with neon signs, which explores Vancouver’s gritty, urban past at the Museum of Vancouver (MOV). Opening October 13, 2011, Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver presents a fascinating look at the rapid growth of neon signs throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s, and the visual purity crusade that virtually banished them from Vancouver streets.

01. Smiling Buda neon sign photo by Walter Griba

“The exhibition raises interesting questions about how we collectively construct the way our city is portrayed,” says Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver curator, Joan Seidl, Director of Exhibitions and Collections at MOV.  “There was a real push in the 60s and 70s to redefine Vancouver as a green, natural space. While we may love neon today, there was a real outcry against neon signs, which represented a more industrial, urban city.”

02. Drake Hotel neon sign photo by Walter Griba

“We’re being led by the nose into a hideous jungle of signs. They’re outsized, outlandish, and outrageous. They’re desecrating our buildings, cluttering our streets, and — this is the final indignity — blocking our view of some of the greatest scenery in the world,” says Tom Ardies in “Let’s Wake Up from Our Neon Nightmare,” Vancouver Sun, 1966.

03. Owl Drug neon sign detail photo by Walter Griba

Curated by Joan Seidl and designed by Resolve Design, Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver reaches into the riches of MOV’s historic neon collection to resurrect some of the city’s former sign magic. Signs on display show the lost art of neon, and include long-time favourites like the Regent Tailors, Owl Drug, and the Drake Hotel, complimented by recently acquired signs such as Clark’s Beauty Salon (Main Street) and the Blue Eagle Café (East Hastings Street). Visitors can also enjoy the Smiling Buddha in the History Galleries. This gritty, urban side of Vancouver’s past is also explored through the photography of Walter Griba, which is on public display for the first time.  The exhibition runs Thursday, October 13, 2011 through Sunday, August 12, 2012.  To learn more about the exhibition, visit the MOV’s website.

July 1 – August 21, 2011

By Joanne Marion and Tom McFall

This dynamic group exhibition of contemporary handmade glasswork ranges from large-scale sculpture to small vessels by 16 Alberta glass artists. It is also the first collaboration between the Alberta Craft Council, the Calgary Glass Initiative and the Esplanade Art Gallery, in bringing the exhibition, publication and website to fruition.

ROBERT GEYER, PINK MURMUR 2, 2011, hand-pulled & coloured glass rods, 9’ x 4’ x 1’

Natural Flow was initiated as a way of gathering together recent work by a wide range of Alberta-based glass artists. The theme highlights the unique ability of hot glass to embody organic and biomorphic ideas, forms and forces.

NATALI RODRIGUES, PROXIMITY AND TOUCH, # 15 , 2010, cast, hot formed & cold worked glass, 3” x 4” x 3”

The natural flow of hot glass, both as a medium and a creative making process makes it arguably one of the most mind-body connected of the craft arts. Much of the process and final form are a direct result of this: rhythm, dance, energy and movement, are typical words in the hot glass vocabulary.

The liquidity and viscosity of hot glass are inextricably linked to the mind and muscle grace of the makers. This is distinct, for example, from stages of drawing, modeling, cutting, assembling and finishing common with furniture making; none of these glass pieces would have the same visual flow had they been drawn by hand or CAD and then prototyped and produced somewhere other than in these craft artists’ studios.

JEFF HOLMWOOD, ELECTRIC KOOL-AID VASE, 2007, blown glass, 20” x 13” x 13” Collection of Alberta Foundation for the Arts

The very nature of glass as an ‘amorphous solid’ – neither liquid nor solid – thus lends itself to these qualities physically, but the works in hot glass featured here take it a step beyond, evoking natural forces of change visually and also metaphorically, through a variety of strategies from imagery to humour, satire and spiritual contemplation.

TYLER ROCK, ILLATION, 2010, blown glass, 68” x 11”

Alberta has a unique hot glass culture, recognized internationally for its “frontier” character. The personalities of the individual artists and the distinctiveness of their work preclude an “Alberta school” of glass. But, collectively, Alberta’s glass artists are a phenomenon. The 16 artists in Natural Flow are among those who have, over the past 30 to 40 years, created a distinct Alberta energy in their discipline.

JULIA REIMER , GREY SWALLOW, 2010, blown & solid sculpted glass, 23” x 13”

In her catalogue text, Jennifer Salahub has ably invoked the spirit of social historian John Ruskin, the British Arts & Crafts Movement and the development of American studio glass in creating a context for the work in this exhibition. We may add to that scholarship the wealth of global influences embraced by these artists. They are versed in a long culture of glass object making from the ancient Mediterranean and Renaissance Italy, through industrial revolution manufacturing, to French art nouveau, Scandinavian modern, central European communist modern, Italian movements such as Memphis, all of the American art glass scene from Tiffany Studio to the present, as well as oddities such as Mexican and Indian sweatshop factories. Even Coca-Cola and other famous brand glass products, space-race material developments and contemporary art can be seen as having made an eclectic material or ideation impression upon these artists.

KEITH WALKER, MIDDLE BLUE SKILLSAW UMBRELLA, 2008, blown glass assembled, 15" d x 32"

However, while the idea of ‘natural flow’ is traced through the works gathered here, it is not exemplary of all Alberta glass artists’ practices; and so this project, while comprehensive in scope, is certainly not exhaustive of the richness of Alberta glass artists.

Natural Flow: Contemporary Alberta Glass was curated by Joanne Marion and organized by the Esplanade Art Gallery in collaboration with the Alberta Craft Council and the Calgary Glass Initiative, and is accompanied by a catalogue and a website. We thank the cities of Medicine Hat, Calgary and Edmonton, for their support, as well as the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Joanne Marion Curator of Art, Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre

Tom McFall Executive Director, Alberta Craft Council

Kai Georg Scholefield President, Calgary Glass Initiative

By: Jill Allan

Naoko Takenouchi is a Vancouver-based glass artist who is, perhaps, best admired for the personal iconography that she sandblasts and sand-carves onto the surfaces of vessels and for the sculptural forms that she sand-carves out of bubbles.

I met Naoko Takenouchi when I began working for Starfish Glassworks in 1997.  She was part of the group V6, which comprised of Jeff Burnette, Lisa Samphire, Gary Bolt, Joanne Andrighetti, Morna Tudor and Takenouchi.  (V6 pooled their resources to market and promote their work and Starfish Glassworks grew out of this group.  At the time that V6 formed, in the 1990s, Samphire, Bolt and Takenouchi were working at New-Small and Sterling Studio Glass on Granville Island, and Burnette and Tudor were working out of nearby Andrighetti Glassworks.  Bolt, Burnette, Andrighetti and Tudor were all graduates of the Sheridan College program.)

Currently, Takenouchi maintains her practice in Vancouver renting time in the hot studio of New-Small and Sterling Studio Glass and using her private home studio to finish and treat the surfaces of her vessels and sculptures.

Originally from Japan, Takenouchi went to Tama Art University to learn to work with glass.  Dabbling in all the techniques, except for lampworking, she decided at school that she preferred working in blown glass but was exhausted after a rigorous four-year program and tried working as a lighting designer immediately after she graduated.  After a year of light fixture design she craved the material, hands on approach.

“After one year working in a design office, I realized how important it is for me to work the actual material with my hand,” explains Takenouchi. “For me, the most exciting part of making things is not the designing on the paper. It is the transformation from the paper to a three dimensional actual glass object.”

She went on to work in a government run glass studio in Sapporo, Japan, called the Swedish Centre Foundation.  The gaffers there were Swedish and she learned many new skills through working with them, including different approaches to colour application, form and sandblasting techniques.

Title: Fragment of a Dream #8 & #9 Dimensions: 9” d x 21” h Details: blown glass, silver foil, brass fittings, sand-carved, assembled Year: 2008 Photo credit: Naoko Takenouchi

“My early work was heavily influenced by Swedish artists when I was working in the Swedish Centre in Northern Japan. I loved Ann Wolf’s work that time,” she recalls.  “In 1998, I saw Bertil Vallien’s show at the William Traver Gallery in Seattle. I think the show was called ‘Journey’. This show gave me a very strong inspiration. It was a wonderful example of glass sculptures with a narrative element. His work showed me a deep part of the human soul by looking through glass, just like the deep ocean.”

Takenouchi also turns to nature for inspiration and increasingly considers the impact of spirituality on her process.  She credits her experience at the Atlin Centre in northern BC in 1999 for allowing her to shift to a deeper awareness of her creative process, harnessing the energy derived from her internal scrutiny into positive self-expression.  This course of looking within for inspiration has imbued her works with a sincere and original voice.  Takenouchi has always turned to making objects and drawings as a form of self-expression rather than relying on verbal communication.

Title: Sacred Ground Dimensions: 10” w x 12” d x 14” h Details: blown glass, plate glass, sand-carved Year: 2009 Photo credit: Jill Allan

“I always loved drawing and making things with my hands since I was very little, so I feel a visual expression is very much part of myself,” she explains.  “I’ve never been a strong verbal communicator, so the desire to express myself and to seek my own identity ‑ or even our identity as conscious beings ‑ through the process of making things became a very strong focus in my life.”

She is fascinated by the connections being made by quantum physics between science and the invisible, and by how our intentions and energy affect the physical world.  She explores these ideas through reflection, but also through meditative acts, such as pilgrimage, trekking the famous Camino de Santiago route through the Pyrenees.  The trail has provided inspiration for recent works manifest in new travelers’ iconography like maps, contour lines and intersections.  While temporalizing these soulful questions and environments, Takenouchi remains grounded in how to apply them to her physical world and creative process.

Title: Detail of Nautilus form from 'Unity' Dimensions: 2” x 2” Details: hot sculpted glass Year: 2009 Photo credit: Jill Allan

“We just had devastating earthquakes in Japan, and even a month later people are experiencing aftershocks. Their nuclear plants are spreading radiation and threatening our lives. Japan has over 50 nuclear reactors in that small and unstable volcanic land. This is no longer a problem of somebody else. It’s time to shift our mindset,” she implores.  “I’ve been studying energy work and energy healing over the last few years. Some people think that’s flaky, but I’m amazed by how much our intention and energy can change our physical reality. I’d like to work towards incorporating this idea in my artwork and promote the idea that we all have an ability and responsibility to change the world.  I think during the process of making, we all transmit our energy in to our work in some level, but it’ll be interesting if I can use that intentionally in my work.”

Takenouchi admits that staying true to what you want to express with your work and spontaneously following inspiration can be a struggle when dealing with the demands of the retail gallery world and her labour-intensive process.

Each step of Takenouchi’s process is carefully planned and considered.  When she is blowing the bubbles she collects layers of colour and metal foils to later carve through with the cold equipment.  She uses clear vinyl tape to cover the entire surface of the bubble inside and out then draws on top of the tape to guide her incision of the design.  This process of elimination leaves a stencil of masking material on the glass that protects the positive areas of her design.

Title: ‘Unity’ centre piece Dimensions: 8’ h x 2’ w Details: cast, and hot sculpted glass components with textile screen and twigs. Year: 2009 Photo credit: Jill Allan

”I do lots of drawings with many forms and ideas, sometimes with writings as well. I find this process is like having a dialogue with my drawings and it can be quite fun. Once I know the design of the piece, I think about the technical process. I prefer deciding the details as I go, but often with the sandblasting process, I have to decide all the details before I start,” she said.

Throughout the process, different aspects of the design are exposed to the sandblaster, building up layers of detail and depth.  She works as a printer would, from the deepest mark to the shallowest details.  Time is of the essence as the masking materials want to shrink and move.  Takenouchi uses a variety of masking materials: anchor resist for heavy pressure sand carving (50psi), clear vinyl tape for lower pressures and white glue applied with a sponge for manipulated textural effects.  These techniques have evolved over the past two decades into an extremely sophisticated system of mark-making and signature narrative expression.

Over the last 10 years at my various jobs in galleries on the west coast, it has always been a pleasure to me to watch the public respond to Takenouchi’s work.  Even without an understanding of the intense technical process involved, the works impress the viewer with their integrity and quality.  She quietly and consistently sets a high standard. It is interesting to consider her spiritual inspirations when being in the presence of Takenouchi’s work is also a powerful spiritual experience.

Jill Allan lives on Vancouver Island, is the regional GAAC representative for BC and a really big fan of Naoko Takenouchi ra ra ra!

By: Jill Allan

The BC regional Glass Gathering took place on Mother’s Day weekend at the University of Victoria.  Twenty-five local glassmakers and enthusiasts came together to listen to Kirstie Rea present her work, to promote GAAC, BCGAA and to meet one other.  The event was attended by artists from the lower mainland, Vancouver Island, Gabriola Island and Saltspring Island.

Participants’ show and tell! Artists: Jill Adamson, Amanda Parker, Michael Iverson, Jill Allan, Lisa Samphire, Larissa Blokhuis, Toni Johnson (Tidelines Glass in Campbell River), Jacqueline Cornford, Chris Smith, Ben Goodman. Photo credit: Lisa Samphire

Rea presented two slideshows, one about the themes in her work and her experiences throughout her career, and the other about her technical process.  Attendees spent the rest of the time getting to know one other and looking at one others work, and discussing what GAAC and BCGAA have to offer to its membership.

Sarah Mulligan, Jay Macdonell, Mel Munsen, chatting after Kirstie Rea’s presentation. Photo credit: Lisa Samphire

After the meeting at UVic, many of the participants reconvened at the beautiful Miramontes Studio of David Calles for a fantastic potluck dinner and party.  Plans are in the works for future gatherings organized around visiting artists’ presentations.

Dinner in the studio at Miramontes Glass. Top: Craig Hellemond (Rogue Wave Glassworks Chemainus), Lisa Samphire (Starfish Glassworks); Right side: Alannah New-Small (New-Small and Sterling Studio Glass Vancouver), Carla Hellemond, Michael Hofmann, Jane Van Sickle; Left side: Kirstie Rea, Cathy Chase, Waine Ryzak, Ben Goodman, Larissa Blokhuis, Sarah Mulligan, David Calles Photo credit: Lisa Samphire

Dinner in the studio. Clockwise from bottom left: Sarah Mulligan, Waine Ryzak, David Calles, Kirstie Rea, Craig Hellemond, Bob Brown, Jill Allan, Carla Hellemond Photo credit: Lisa Samphire

We will keep the membership posted about future events in BC and would love to hear about suggestions for themes, venues, volunteers and possible presenters. Please contact Jill @ glass at jillallan.com

Dernièrement, j’ai eu la chance de participer à l’expo/vente One of a Kind du printemps.  Ayant été sélectionnée par le GAAC pour une nouvelle bourse, celle du ‘Craft Community of Canada’, j’ai été plus que gâtée! Tout d’abord, la bourse comprend la location de l’emplacement au salon, ainsi qu’un  montant pour le transport et hébergement. Elle a pour but d’aider un artiste verrier de la relève ayant 5 ans et moins de pratique, à exposer et vendre ses créations au public torontois tout en faisant la promotion de l’association qui l’a nommée. N’ayant presque rien à débourser, cette bourse est une très belle opportunité de se faire connaître et d’essayer de nouveaux produits sur le marché, à peu de frais.

Carolyne in front of her booth at the One of a Kind Show

D’autre part, les détenteurs de cette bourse exposaient tous dans une même section au salon. Nous étions 10 artisans de différents métiers d’art à y être regroupés et à avoir été sélectionnés par différents organismes. Pour cette raison, cela en faisait à mon avis une des plus belles sections du salon et je me trouve très choyée d’en avoir fait partie! C’était aussi en  quelque sorte, une belle communauté d’artisans! Nous avons eu bien du plaisir et nous nous entraidions tout au long de l’évènement. Nous avons tissé des liens et ces rencontres ont rendus l’expérience encore plus plaisante!

Carolyne with other artists who also received grants

De plus, moi et quelques unes de mes consoeurs artisanes de la relève, de cette section et d’ailleurs, avons bénéficié d’une foulée de publicités dans les médias! Plusieurs clients nous ont fait la remarque et cela donnait une valeur ajoutée à nos créations! Mes produits ont pris preneurs chez la clientèle torontoise, très respectueuse de l’art et des artisans. J’ai adoré expliquer au gens tout le travail derrière ces créations, les techniques si complexes à maîtriser mais à la fois si stimulantes et intéressantes à travailler!

Carolyne’s booth at the One of a Kind Show

En général, j’ai trouvé que le salon étaient remplis d’artisans originaux maitrisant leur art et créant des pièces de hautes qualités, au goût du jour. Il est clair que les organisateurs du One of a Kind travaillent fort  pour que ça en soit ainsi  et tiennent à rehausser l’image des métiers d’art. Je crois que plus les artisans ayant du travail de qualité exposeront leur travail, plus les métiers d’arts seront respectés par la société. Il faut élever la barre des métiers d’art afin de démontrer que de nos jours, dans le terme métiers d’art, le mot ART est plus que présent et que c’est très accessible! Je crois que c’est un très beau cadeau de la part du GAAC et un gros coup de pouce qu’il nous donne. Notre association n’est pas là pour rien et nous devons profiter des opportunités qu’ils étalent sous nos pieds. J’ai vécue une très belle expérience et si vous êtes de la relève, je vous conseil de sauter sur cette bourse l’année prochaine!

Un gros merci au GAAC!

Carolyne Brouillard,

Artiste verrier

The support of a community

By: Carolyne Brouillard

I recently had the chance to be part of the One of a Kind (OOAK) Spring show, having been selected by the Glass Art Association of Canada for a new grant offered through OOAK and I must say that I was fortunately spoiled.

Carolyne devant son stand au One of a Kind

First of all, the grant offered the location of a booth and an amount for transportation and accommodations. It has the goal of helping a Canadian glass artist with five years or less of experience in their company to show their work and promote GAAC. It was a great opportunity for getting to known and trying new products in a new market for almost no fees. As they say on the OOAK website, the grant is a ‘brand new platform for emerging artists to launch their careers!’

At the show, grant recipients had their own section. There were 10 artists from different crafts who were selected by different organizations. Mostly because of that reason, I though it was one of the nicest sections in the show; I found myself lucky to be part of it! It was in a way, a craft community itself! We had a really great time and helped each other all along the way. Links tied us up and helped the experience to be even more enjoyable!

Carolyne avec d'autres artistes qui ont aussi reçu des subventions

Also, a lot of new artisans, including myself, had the opportunity to be featured in a variety of media. Clients told us that they had seen publicity and this added great value to our work. My work was appreciated by Torontonians, who were really respectful of the crafts and artisans. I had a good time explaining to the clients the hard work behind the creations but also how stimulating and interesting it was to work glass.

Carolyne stand au One of a Kind

I thought that the show was nicer than I heard it was years ago. It is obvious that the One of a Kind Show managers have worked hard to upgrade the quality level and make the arts and crafts a nice picture.

I really think that if more artists with nice quality work would exhibit their work in this kind of show, more of the crafts would be respected in society. I also think that we have to show that in our contemporary days, of the expressions ‘arts’ and ‘crafts’, the word ‘arts’ is more than present and accessible to all.

It was such a nice gift from GAAC and a nice helping hand that they offered here. Our Association isn’t only present at the conferences, but all year long and we have to take all the chances that are waiting for us to take. I had a great time at this edition of One of a Kind Spring show and if you are an emerging artist, I encourage you to grab this opportunity next year!

Thanks a lot to GAAC!

By Kai Georg Scholefield

Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, 32" x 42 "

Internationally acclaimed artist Judith Schaechter was invited to the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary in January this year as a visiting artist to give demonstrations and lectures on her practice as a stained glass artist.

Schaechter made her start in glass after attending Rhode Island School of Design when she moved to Philadelphia, and over the next 20 years created work that has been described as “paradoxical assemblages of medieval depictions, mediated by contemporary tales of human failings.”

Child Bride, 20" x 38"

In terms of materials, Schaechter makes use of those standard to stained glass: flat glass panels or modules soldered together in a support frame.  However, in terms of process and content, her work is inventive and unique. A singular work may contain layers of coloured flash glass, flat glass with a veneer of colour on one side where the coloured side is cut, carved and sanded to create contour lines, and variations in tone and hue.  Her work generally depicts figures and each component within a piece is meticulously constructed in steps.  She even uses pigment – generally black and yellow – to refine renderings further. These pigments are then fired in a kiln to ensure they become a permanent part of the glass.  Due to the nature of Judith’s work, throughout a select piece there may be sections with more layers than others, creating a relief or landscape across the piece that adds dimension to the work literally and aesthetically. She has also been resourceful with a variety of tools and equipment in her practice, making Judith noteworthy as an innovator in stain glass technology.

Detail of process

The physical process of constructing a piece and the internal creative process are linked in Schaechter’s work and mind in that her creative process involves applying certain constraints under which conditions she believes she is more effective. Schaechter believes the tedium is what draws her to the medium. While concentrating on specific tasks, ideas to her are allowed to move and grow unrestricted from the pressure of specific meaning.  Having said that, Judith is also intuitive in her creative process, meaning she does not set out to execute a rigid plan. She instead applies patience and an amount of breathing room for dialogue between herself and the work as it is created.

When speaking about content, Schaechter suggests her work conveys an uncomfortable beauty based primarily on sex and death and, to a lesser extent, romance and violence. And while her work appears to have sarcastic undertones in its gothic depictions, it is quite refreshing in that Judith values the clichés and sentimentality that is invoked.

Joan of Arc, 35" x 31"

Schaechter has argued that glass is not a genre but a medium of expression, and while this is an ongoing debate yet undecided by the art community at large, the traditional context for stained glass in general does not touch these topics.  And so it appears Judith Schaechter is a pioneer here, breaking new ground in glass art.

The Talk, 18" x 41"

Judith is represented in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Netherlands, Germany and Korea and is the recipient of many grants, including two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her work is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Fine Art Museum of San Francisco, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and numerous private collections. Judith has taught at the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, Rhode Island School of Design, the University of the Arts, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Arts.

More information on Judith Schaechter can be found on her website at www.judithschaechter.com.

Judith Schaechter rend visite à l’ACAD

Par Kai Georg Scholefield

Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, 32" x 42 "

Reconnue mondialement, l’artiste Judith Schaechter était l’invitée en janvier dernier du Collège des Arts et du Design d’Alberta à Calgary pour intervenir sur son métier d’artiste vitrailliste et faire des démonstrations.

Schaechter fit ses débuts dans le verre après avoir terminé ses études à l’Ecole de Design de Rhode Island et déménagé à Philadelphie. Durant les 20 années qui suivirent, elle se mit à créer ce qui est considéré comme “des assemblages paradoxaux de représentations médiévales mixées à des situations de défaillance humaine contemporaines”.

Child Bride, 20" x 38"

Concernant les matériaux employés, cela va du verre standard au vitrail: des panneaux aux modules de verre soudés ensemble dans une structure. Cependant, en termes de process et de contenu, son travail créatif est unique. Une seule œuvre peut contenir plusieurs couches de verre flash coloré, panneaux colorés d’un seul côté par un vernis qui sera coupé, gravé et sablé afin d’obtenir les lignes de contour ainsi que créer des variations de tons et de nuances. Ses œuvres dépeignent en général des personnages où chaque élément est méticuleusement construit par étapes. Elle emploie aussi des pigments, généralement du noir et du jaune qui affinent encore plus le rendu. Ces pigments sont ensuite chauffés dans une arche afin de les sceller définitivement au verre. Dans ce genre de travail, certaines sections d’une même pièce peuvent comporter plus de couches que d’autres, créant un relief ou formant des paysages au travers de l’œuvre, ce qui lui donne de la dimension tant au sens littéral qu’au sens esthétique. Judith fait aussi preuve de créativité dans son travail avec l’utilisation d’outils et d’équipements variés, faisant d’elle une remarquable innovatrice en termes d’approche technologique de l’art du vitrail.

Détail de la conception des processus.

Lors de la création d’une pièce, les procédés physiques et créatifs internes sont reliés dans le travail et l’esprit de Schaechter car une partie du créatif implique de prendre en considération certaines contraintes qui lui permettent d’être plus efficace. Schaechter pense que l’ennui lui apporte le moyen. Lorsqu’elle doit se concentrer sur des tâches spécifiques, son esprit s’accorde à vadrouiller et à évoluer sans but spécifique ni pression. En outre, Judith a un processus de création intuitif, signifiant que le plan qu’elle se fixe reste flexible. Au contraire, elle y met de la patience et s’accorde du temps pour respirer et instaurer le dialogue entre elle-même et son œuvre au fur à mesure qu’elle se crée.

Selon Schaechter, le contenu de son travail transmet une beauté qui met mal à l’aise, principalement basée sur les thèmes du sexe et de la mort ainsi que de la romance et la violence à une moindre mesure. Et tandis que l’apparence gothique de ses œuvres leur donne des traits sarcastiques, le travail de Judith est plutôt rafraîchissant à sa façon de valoriser les clichés et la sentimentalité évoqués.

Joan of Arc, 35" x 31"

Schaechter ne considère pas le verre comme un genre mais plutôt comme un moyen d’expression. Alors que ce débat actuel est encore non tranché au sein de la communauté artistique, ces sujets ne sont que rarement abordé dans le contexte traditionnel du vitrail. Il semble donc que Judith Schaechter soit une pionnière en la matière ouvrant de nouvelles voies à l’art verrier.

The Talk, 18" x 41"

Exposée à New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, aux Pays-Bas, en Allemagne et en Corée, Judith a reçu plusieurs bourses dont deux de la Fondation Nationale pour la Confrérie des Arts et une de la Fondation Guggenheim. Ses œuvres sont visibles aux Musée des Arts de Philadelphie, Musée des Beaux-Arts de San Francisco, Musée des Arts et du Design de New York, Musée du Verre de Corning, Galerie Renwick de l’Institution Smithsonian, Musée Victoria et Albert de Londres ainsi que dans de nombreuses collections privées. Judith a enseigné à l’Ecole du Verre de Pilchuck à Seattle, à l’Ecole du Design de Rhode Island, à l’Université des Arts et à l’Académie des Arts de Pennsylvanie.

Pour plus d’informations concernant Judith Schaechter, consultez son site Internet www.judithschaechter.com.

Reprinted with the kind permission of

Denis Longchamps, Éditeur et rédacteur en chef / Publisher and Managing Editor,

Cahiers métiers d’art / Craft Journal

Spouted Vessel, 2007, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze,Photo: Janet Dwyer

In 2010, British Columbia glass artist and sculptor Lou Lynn was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.  While I have seen some of her works in galleries such as Gallery Elena Lee in Montreal, I first met Lou Lynn informally in the fall of 2009 in the office of the Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec.  We met again in May 2010 for lunch while she attended the Glass Art Association of Canada conference held in Montreal.  In the conference exhibition she also had a series of work that we discussed before going on St-Denis Street for a meal.  In the following I share with you parts of our discussion in relation to her artistic practice, and all of Lynn’s citations are from this conversation or from our email exchanges.

Mixing bronze and glass, her sculptures by their forms recall antique and contemporary tools yet deny their primary function as such by this precise choice of materials.  In her solo exhibition, Retro-Active (2008-2009), curator Helen Selebius wrote in the accompanying catalogue that,

Lynn masterfully combines materials in a manner that draws attention to their inherent qualities.  The point at which the fragility, strength and optical properties of glass meet with the durability of metal speaks about the tension that exists between her chosen materials.¹

Hooked Chisel, 2007, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

Through Lynn’s creative transformation, the utilitarian object becomes artful or expressive sculpture with the inherent tension between form and function, hard metal and glass, and the obvious fragility of the latter. In her installation of Tools as Artefacts (2008), she grouped her reinterpreted tools alternating some bronze-only sculptures with others combining metal and glass.  It is such a combination series of five that was presented during the conference in Montreal.  While some of the bronze-only pieces probably can still be used in a utilitarian way, the chosen noble metal, historically linked to the fine art of sculpture, elevates them to another level meant for contemplation; the glass on the others obliviously annihilates any possible functional usage.  In both cases, the surface textures are sensually inviting touch while their presentation on the walls and on plinths reminds us that touching is not allowed in a gallery environment.

It is in a search for developing her own formal vocabulary that she became interested in ordinary tools from other eras that she collected.  Artifacts of old ways of doing things, their forms, as Robin Laurence wrote in the Retro-Active catalogue essay, are for Lou Lynn “pure and enduring sculpture.”²

Puller, 2009, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

But how did it all start for Lynn and what brought her to work with glass.  She says,

As a child I was interested in art and I recognized quite early that my strengths lay in 3-D work and working with materials.  Like many artists, when I discovered glass I was attracted to the optical properties of the material and was fascinated by working with something that was fragile and unfamiliar.

She continues in discussing her art education and mentors,

In the mid 1980’s, I was just starting to explore glass as a sculptural material and had the good fortune to spend several summers attending classes at Pilchuck Glass School.³ This was at a time when contemporary glass in the United States was taking off and I was exposed to many artists who were pushing the boundaries of the material, in ways that I had never imagined possible.  The experience challenged my preconceived ideas of expression and I really credit the influence that Pilchuck had on me, to help me find my own visual language.

Auger, 2007, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

“Mentor: a wise and trusted advisor.”⁴

There are two people who I consider mentors … Irene Frolic, artist/educator, who taught me kiln-casting, and Helen Sebelius, artist/curator.  Both offer insightful and honest feedback about all aspects of my work/career and have taught me a lot about seeing.

We then went on to discuss sources of inspiration and her series of work titled Artefacts that suggests archaeology and history, as well as her more recent projects that are also inspired by garden tools,

I began exploring the Tool series in 2004, and I find old tools to be a continued source of inspiration.  As a maker, I contemplate the esthetic and functional decisions that were made on old tools, to embellish a handle, curve a piece of metal or join materials.

I am attracted to functional objects of all kinds, from all epochs and enjoy pondering the intended use of these things.

The combination of glass and metal is rather unusual, more so for tools, since the power of one is subverted by the fragility of the other.  Such pairing creates a formal and visual tension that is in itself fascinating. She comments,

I had been working in glass for several years, when in 1985 I began collaborating with a metal artist and we received a Canada Council grant to explore the architectural potential of combining cast aluminum and dalle de verre.  This quite naturally led me to the idea of introducing metal into my glass sculpture, since I was and still am, interested in the contrast between strength and fragility offered by combining these two disparate materials.  I soon became concerned about the health risks of casting aluminum and eventually came to casting bronze.  This progression was a very easy step for me, since the lost-wax casting methods for both bronze and glass are similar and I really enjoy sculpting in wax.

Pronged Spade, 2008, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

For the future, Lou Lynn would like to explore kitchen and domestic tools again for their inherent formal qualities.  Her philosophy in regards to her artistic pursuits is embedded in “an exploration of form and material.”

In her artist’s statement, she writes,

I am primarily concerned with the exploration of form and the use of materials.  Inspiration for my work has for the most part been informed by architecture, archaeology and industrial objects.  This has resulted in a visual language that has implied reference to functional implements and objects of the past.  The sculptural qualities of hand tools hold a particular fascination for me, as I ponder the esthetic decisions of their makers.

Pestle #3, 2008, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

And while bronze and metal seems to occupy a place of choice in her works, she insists that,

… glass has been my preferred medium, which I have chosen to explore from a sculptural perspective.  While I have investigated the fragility, strength and optical properties of the material, I have never been interested in the seductive use of color or functionality, preferring instead to focus on form.  The integration of metal provides both visual contrast and the exploration of a relationship between strength and fragility.

But as our lunch came to an end, Lynn returned to the conference, and as I am interested in the divide of craft and art and explore all the grey areas that are in between, I asked where she located her practice and she answered that her “work sits comfortably on the line between contemporary craft and sculpture” – a line that is as blurred and complex as the work of Lou Lynn.

Our sincere thanks to Dr. Denis Longchamps, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.  To see the above article in Cahiers métiers d‘art ::: Craft Journal, go to:  http://www.craftjournal.ca/en/issues/70-currentvol4no1.html.

² Robin Laurence, in Selebius, 2008:  no page.

³ Pilchuck Glass School is located in Stanwood, Washington and was founded by glass artist Dale Chihuly and patrons Anne Gould and John H. Hauberg in 1971.

⁴ Gage Canadian Dictionary

Une Conversation Avec … Lou Lynn, Artiste du Verre

Réimprimé avec l’aimable autorisation de

Denis Longchamps, Éditeur et rédacteur en chef / Publisher and Managing Editor,

Cahiers métiers d’art / Craft Journal

Spouted Vessel, 2007, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze,Photo: Janet Dwyer

En 2010, l’artiste verrier et sculpteure de la Colombie-Britannique Lou Lynn était intronisée à l’Académie royale des arts du Canada.  J’avais déjà vu son travil dans des galleries telles que celle d’Elena Lee à Montréal.  J’ai recontré Lou Lynn pour la première fois par hazard dans les bureaux du Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec à l’automne 2009.  Nous nous sommes rencontrés une fois de plus en mai 2010 pour dîner ensemble alors qu’elle participait à la conférence de l’Association du verre d’art du Canada tenue à Montréal.  Dans le cadre de l’exposition offerte de concert avec la conférence, elle a présenté une série d’oeuvres don’t nous avons discuté avant de nous render sur la rue St-Denis pour notre repas.  Dans ce qui suit, je partage avec vous une partie de notre conversation sur son travail artistique; les citations de Lynn sont tirées de cette rencontre et de nos échanges de courriels subséquents.  Associant le bronze et le verre, les formes sculptées par Lynn évoquent des outils, anciens ou contemporains, alors que le choix des matériaux nie leur fonction première.  Pour son exposition solo, Retro-Active (2008-2009), la commissaire Helen Selebius a écrit dans le catalogue que,

Lynn combine magistralement les matériaux de façon à attirer l’attention sur leurs qualités inhérentes.  Le point où la fragilité, la force et les propriétés optiques du verre rencontrent la durabilité du métal parle de la tension qui existe entre les matériaux choisis.¹

Hooked Chisel, 2007, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

Par le biais des transformations créatrices de Lou Lynn, les objets utilitaires deviennent des sculptures artistiques et expressives qui experiment las tension inhérente entre la forme et la fonction, entre la dureté du métal et la fragilité évidente du verre.  Dans son installation Tools as Artefacts (2008), elle a regroupé ses outils réinterprétés en alternant ceux en bronze seulement avec d’autres combinant métal et verre.  C’est une telle séries de cinq pièces qu’elle a présentée lors de la conférence de Montréal.  Alors que les pièces tout en bronze pourraient à la limite être utilisées, ce matériau noble qui est lié a l’histoire de la sculpture et des beaux-arts, les élèvent à un niveau mieux adapté à la contemplation; le verre des autres pièces annihile tout usage possible.  Dans les deux cas, la texture des surfaces est sensuellement invitante au toucher maix leur mode de présentation sur les murs et sur des socles nous rappelle que le toucher est interdit dans une galerie d’art.

C’est dans la recherche d’un langage formel propre à elle que Lynn s’est intéressée aux outils usuels d’une autre époque et qu’elle a commencé à les collectionner.  Comme l’écrivait Robin Laurence dans l’essai du catalogue de Retro-Active, ces artefacts des anciennes façons de faire, et leurs formes, sont pour Lou Lynn « sculpture pure et durable. »²

Puller, 2009, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

Mais comment tout a-t-il commencé pour Lynn et qu’est-ce qui l’a amenée à travailler le verre?  Elle nous dit :

Enfant j’étais intéressée à l’art et j’ai réalisé très tôt que mes forces se trouvaient dans le travail à trois dimensions et le travail a trois dimensions et le travail avec les matériaux.  Comme plusieurs artistes, lorsque j’ai découvert le verre, j’ai été attirée par les propriétés optiques de ce matériau, et j’ai été fascinée de travailler avec quelque chose d’aussi fragile et inconnu.

Elle poursuit en discutant de son éducation artistique et de ses mentors :

Au milieu des années 80, je commencais tout juste à explorer le verre comme matériau sculptural et j’ai eu le plaisir de passer plusieurs étés à prendre des cours à la Pilchuck Glass School.³ C’était au moment où le verre commençait à prendre de l’ampleur aux Etats-Unis et j’ai rencontré plusieurs artistes qui poussaient les limites du matériau d’une manière que je n’avais jamais cru possible.  Cette expérience m’a obligée a revoir mes notions d’expression préconçues, et je donne crédit à Pilchuck, à l’influence que cette école a eue sur moi, de m’avoir aidée à trouver mon propre langage visuel.

Auger, 2007, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

« Mentor :  un conseiller avisé et de confiance. »⁴

Il y a dux personnes que je considére mes mentors … Irene Frolic, artiste et éducatrice, qui m’a appris le moulage au four et Helen Sebelius, artiste et commissaire.  Les deux m’ont offert des commentaires honnêtes et perspicaces sur tous les aspects de mon travail et de ma carriére, et m’ont réellement appris comment voir.

Nous avons poursuivi en parlant de ses sources d’inspiration et de sa série d’œuvres réunies sous le titre Artefacts qui suggére histoire et archéologie, de même que de son plus récent projet qui est aussi inspiré d’outils, de jardinage cette fois :

J’ai commencé à explorer la série Tool en 2004, et je trouve que les outils me sont une source d’inspiration continuelle.  En tent qu’artiste, j’admire les décisions esthétiques et fonctionnelles qui ont contribué a la forme des vieux outils :  embellir une poignée, courber un morceau de métal ou joindre différents matériaux.

Je suis attirée par les objets utilitaires de toutes sortes, de toutes époques, et j’aime méditer sur l’utilisation destinée de ces choses.

La combinaison du verre et du métal est plutôt inhabituelle, surtout pour des outils, puisque la force de l’un est subvertie par la fragilité de l’autre.  Un tel appariement crée une tension visuelle et formelle qui est en soit fascinante.  Elle commente :

Je travaillais avec le verre depuis plusieurs années déjà lorsqu’en 1985 j’ai collaboré avec un artiste du métal.  Nous avons obtenu une bourse du Conseil des arts du Canada pour explorer le potentiel architectural de la combinaison de la fonte d’aluminium et des dalles de verre.  Ceci m’a amenée presque naturellement à l’idée d’inclure du métal dans mes sculptures de verre puisque j’étais, et suis toujours, intéressée aux contrastes entre la force et la fragilité offerts par ces ceux matériaux si disparates au premier abord.  Rapidement, j’ai été soucieuse des risques pour la santé de mouler l’aluminium et je suis donc passée au moulage du bronze.  Cette progression a été une étape facile pour moi puisque les méthodes de moulage à la cire perdue du bronze et du verre sont similaires et j’aime beaucoup sculpter la cire.

Pronged Spade, 2008, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

A l’avenir, Lou Lynn aimerait travailler avec des outils domestiques et de cuisine, toujours pour leurs qualités formelles inhérentes.  Pour ce qui est de sa philosophie artistique, elle est « une exploration de forme et de matériau. »

Dans sa démarche artistique, elle écrit :

Je suis principalement préoccupée par l’exploration des formes et l’utilisation des matériaux.  L’inspiration pour mon travail a surtout été nourrie par l’architecture, l’archéologie et le design industriel.  Le résultat est un langage visuel composé de références aux instruments et aux objets fonctionnels du passé.  J’ai une fascination particuliére pour les qualités sculpturales des outils manuels alors que je réfléchis sur les décisions esthétiques de leurs fabricants.

Pestle #3, 2008, Verre et bronze / Glass and bronze, Photo: Janet Dwyer

Et alors que le bronze et le métal occupent une place de choix dans ses œuvres, elle insiste sur le fait que … le verre est mon medium préféré, que j’ai choisi d’explorer d’une perspective sculpturale.  Bien que j’aie exploré la fragilité, la force et les propriétés optiques de ce matériau, je n’ai jamais été intéressée par l’utilisation séductrice de la couleur ou de la fonctionnalité, préférant me concentrer sur les formes.  L’intégration du métal procure un contraste visuel et une occasion d’explorer la relation entre force et fragilité.

Notre dîner touchait à sa fin et Lynn devait retourner à la conférence, mais comme je suis intéressé par la division entre arts et métiers d’art et que j’explore la zone grise entre les deux, j’ai demandé à Lynn où elle situe son travail.  Elle a répondu que son « travail se situe confortablement sur la ligne entre les métiers d’art contemporains et la sculpture. »  Une ligne tout aussi subtile et complexe que le travail de Lou Lynn.

Notre sincère gratitute à Denis Longchamps PhD, Université Concordia, Montréal, Québec.  Pour voir l’article susmentionné dans Cahiers métiers d‘art ::: Craft Journal, visiter:  http://www.craftjournal.ca/en/issues/70-currentvol4no1.html.

¹ Notre traduction.  Helen Selebius, Lou Lynn: Retro-active (Nelson, BC:  Touchtones Nelson-Museum of Art and History, 2008):  foreword.

² Notre traduction.  Robin Laurence, dans Selebius, 2008:  sans page.

³ La Pilchuck Glass School est située à Stanwood, Washington et a été fondée par l’artiste verrier Dale Chihuly et les collectionneurs Anne Gould et John H. Hauberg en 1971.

⁴ Notre traduction.  Gage Canadian Dictionary

Migrations and Transparencies

By Alejandra Basañes

“Migrationes et Transparences”:  Masters Research Project, exhibited at the Atelier Silex, gallery Espace 3/4, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. December 2010.

Translation by Sam Kerson and Katah

Les racines, verre, 1,50 x 1,50 m. Migrations et transparences (vue partielle de l'installation), 2010.

Abstract:

The creative research project that I have carried out is called “Migrations and Transparencies,” and was structured around my experience of migration.  This migration has given me the opportunity to live another spatial time; virtually, another life.  Moving to another country had a destabilizing effect on the course of my life.  At the beginning of my Masters, I had not planned a research related to myself.  I had not imagined a project in which my experience as an immigrant would be the theme.  My studies have looked at the path of migration as a research topic but, as I look more closely, I find myself.  For me, exile is a wound that marks the subsequent unfolding of my existence. Exile is a structural break.  Exile is also an extraction (uprooting) from the place of origin, followed by integration (transplanting) in a new society. As it happens, in my case, this new society has come to nourish my discourse and multiply my affiliations.

Les racines, verre, 1,50 x 1,50 m. Migrations et transparences (vue partielle de l'installation), 2010.

My research has made me question the creative techniques I use to produce my work. I have also had to rethink some ideas and concepts, which were central to my practice in the past. My current work addresses different issues such as migration and territory. I wanted to consider the possible combinations of different artistic disciplines and, more to the point, the fusion between drawing, digital photography, manipulating the image and glass printing, all in transition towards installations.

Les objets en verre, 2010

I used the canning jar, an industrial object produced in series, which is made for holding foods such as jams and sauces.  In this way, an industrialized jar, a common object of our everyday life, used out of context, becomes a unique piece and evolves towards a work of art or part of a work of art.  I transformed jars by heating them to a temperature of 715 degrees Celsius.  Under these conditions the jars, which previously were identical, underwent a transformation that did not affect all of them in the same way.  During the firing process, the jar collapses and finds a new form, a new balance.  The form becomes irregular and asymmetric.  The industrialized piece, the jar, now becomes a unique object.  Randomness plays a part in the collapse of this object because of the natural physical properties of the glass and the weakness of the edges of the jar.

Les objets en verre, 2010

Just as jars change under the effect of heat, human beings will also differ in the way they go through stressful situations in their lives such as migration or other passages more or less traumatic or painful.  There is a certain distortion that everyone goes through.  Like my jars, some will always be able to continue to function, but others will flatten completely and will not be able to hold anything.  They will loose their primary function.

Les objets en verre, 2010

Once the jars were transformed by the heat, I placed them on the ground on a rectangular bed of sand, making the link between both suspended images.  At the center of the installation, the jars are laid on a bed of sand, a fragment of the territory.  The sand rectangle is a metaphor to the territory, of the land and of the place; a fragment of land which is necessary for roots to establish themselves.

Migrations et transparences (vue partielle de l'installation), 2010.

The installation “Migrations et transparances” is a metaphor of my migratory trajectory from my own land to a new territory.  During this journey, I felt the extent of the uprooting.  It is merely my own way of seeing the world.  The elements of the piece form a script of images that are a fulfillment of who I am, as well as representing my migratory journey.  The piece has its own story:  it is a reminder of a movement that tilts an established environment over an indeterminate time period; an interlacing of time and space, represented by the roots that have taken time to grow.  The map of an unknown city, for the spectator, also needed time and space to develop, depending on the circumstances of the life of the society.    The map expands and leaves marks in one’s memory.  This way, the temporal dimension of the piece becomes relative.  The jars will suggest the trajectory and the transformation in time.  The determination takes the form of a creation:  the determination to create, also the determination to leave and finally most important, to accomplish one’s migratory process.

Une carte de la ville de San Juan, verre, 1,50 x 1,50 m, détail, Migrations et transparences. 2010

Masters thesis presented at the Faculté des études supérieurs de l’Université Laval, intended for the completion and achievement of a Masters in Visual Arts (M.A.)

Advisor:  Richard Baillargeon

Migrations et transparences

by Alejandra Basañes

Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures de l’Université Laval dans le cadre du programme de maîtrise en arts visuels pour l’obtention du grade de maître ès arts (M.A.)

École des arts visuels Faculté d’aménagement, d’architecture et des arts visuels Université Laval. Québec. 2010

Les racines, verre, 1,50 x 1,50 m. Migrations et transparences (vue partielle de l'installation), 2010.

Résumé

La recherche création que j’ai effectuée s’intitule « Migrations et transparences », elle s’est articulée autour de mon expérience de la migration. La migration m’a permis de vivre un autre temps spatial : une autre vie. Ce changement de pays est lié à un rôle déstabilisateur dans ma vie. Au début de mes cours de maîtrise, je ne pensais pas investiguer des phénomènes dans lesquels j’étais moi-même immergée. Les recherches m’ont conduite à parcourir le sentier de la migration comme sujet de recherche, où je me trouve totalement immergée. Pour moi, non seulement l’exil est-il une blessure qui marque le déroulement subséquent de mon existence — une fracture structurante en quelque sorte — mais l’exil est aussi un arrachement (déracinement) du lieu des origines, suivi d’une intégration (enracinement) dans une nouvelle société qui vient nourrir mon discours des appartenances multiples.

Les racines, verre, 1,50 x 1,50 m. Migrations et transparences (vue partielle de l'installation), 2010.

Ma recherche m’a fait remettre en question mes moyens de production et certaines notions et concepts par rapport à mon travail précédent. Différents concepts y sont abordés, tels que la migration, le territoire et sa représentation (la carte). Je me suis intéressée à développer une réflexion sur les possibles combinaisons de différents moyens, plus concrètement: la fusion entre le dessin, la photographie numérique, la manipulation de l’image et l’estampe sur verre en transition vers des installations.

Les objets en verre, 2010

Je me suis servi des pots de confiture, objets industrialisés et en série destinés à contenir des aliments (confitures, sauces, et autres). Ainsi, un pot industrialisé, un objet du quotidien hors de son contexte usuel, devient une pièce unique, et évolue vers une œuvre ou une partie d’une œuvre. J’ai transformé ces pots par une cuisson au four à une température de 715 degrés Celsius. Sous l’effet de la chaleur, les pots de forme identique ont subi une transformation qui ne les a pas tous affectés de la même manière. Au moment de la cuisson, le pot s’effondre et retrouve une nouvelle forme, un nouvel équilibre. Cet équilibre devient asymétrique et la forme devient irrégulière. De pièce faite en série, le pot, devient un objet unique. Le hasard joue et l’effondrement se produit à cause de la nature physique du verre et de la faiblesse des parois du pot.

Les objets en verre, 2010

Un peu tout comme les pots sous l’effet de la chaleur, les êtres humains vont vivre différemment les mêmes situations de vie, comme la migration ou d’autres passages plus ou moins traumatiques et douloureux. Il y aura une certaine déformation pour tous, quelques uns seront toujours capables de continuer à fonctionner comme contenant, d’autres vont s’aplatir totalement et incapables d’être remplis, ils vont perdre leur fonction première. Une fois les pots transformés par la chaleur je les ai placés par terre sur un rectangle de sable, faisant le lien entre les deux images suspendues. D’un coté, l’image de ma ville d’origine, San Juan (Argentine), la carte topographique modifié par moyen des coups de pinceau sortis de ma mémoire (Sérigraphie sur verre texturé par fusion); Del autre coté, une image composée avec dessins et photographies d’énormes racines d’arbres, retournées par la mer sur une plage en Gaspésie, Québec (Canada).

Les objets en verre, 2010

Au centre de l’installation les pots sont posés au sol sur un lit de sable, un fragment du territoire. Le rectangle de sable est une métaphore du territoire, de la terre et du lieu. Un fragment de terre, celle qui est nécessaire pour prendre racines et s’établir.

Migrations et transparences (vue partielle de l'installation), 2010.

L’œuvre, l’installation Migrations et transparences, est une métaphore du trajet migratoire de mon territoire d’origine vers un nouveau territoire. Lors de ce trajet, j’ai senti l’ampleur du déracinement. Elle est simplement ma manière de voir le monde, une écriture d’images qui est un accomplissement de moi-même, et aussi de mon trajet migratoire. L’œuvre possède sa propre histoire : elle rappelle un mouvement qui fait basculer un environnement, et ce, à travers un temps non déterminé. Un entrecroisement de temps et d’espace représenté par les racines qui ont mis du temps à grandir. La carte d’une ville inconnue pour le spectateur, a eu aussi besoin de temps et d’espace pour se propager selon les circonstances de la vie d’une société. La carte qui se répand pour laisser des traces dans la mémoire. Ainsi, la temporalité de l’œuvre devient une chose relative. L’ensemble des pots en verre va suggérer le trajet et la transformation dans le temps. La détermination prend la forme de la création : la détermination de créer, celle aussi de partir et enfin celle très importante : de réaliser la migration.

Une carte de la ville de San Juan, verre, 1,50 x 1,50 m, détail, Migrations et transparences. 2010

Alejandra Basañes, « Migrations et transparences »
Exposition de maîtrise dans la salle Espace 0…3/4 de l’Atelier Silex.  Trois-Rivières

Décembre 2010

September 2010

By Diana Fox

For Canadians, the allure of Australia is completely understandable.  We perceive it to be warm waters, sandy beaches, friendly people and long beautiful summers.  For Canadian glass artists, you can add to that appeal highly respected Graduate programs and artist residencies, as well as opportunities to work with some of the best glass artists in the world.  Truly, it’s a wonder then that Canadian glass artists aren’t shipping themselves off to Australia in droves.  Indeed, there are those who go and come back, and those who go and stay, but both will tell you that their experience there is one that greatly affected their practice and the results of it.  It is this hypothesis that was the idea behind “Round Trip”, an exhibition that took place in Eau Claire Market in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in September, 2010.  The five artists involved in this exhibition all had ties within their glass work both to Canada and Australia.

Chris Boha was a Calgary resident for ten years, and graduated from the Alberta College of Art + Design in 2003.  Prior to relocating to Adelaide to complete his PhD at the University of South Australia, Chris travelled extensively working and studying with numerous glass artists around the world.  His piece in “Round Trip”, entitled Three Small Bags … Thirty Years of Stuff reflects the universality of the feelings that come with relocating and being limited on what can go with you.  Suspended from the ceiling, it is a copper and wooden boat, with glass buildings on top.  Inside each is a cloudy figurine, the forms of which are broken down by the glass that houses them.

While Boha’s piece deals with the emotional aspects of home and what home means when you relocate somewhere, Melanie Long’s work conversely takes a more whimsical approach to her time in both countries.  Melanie was first in Australia on a student exchange in 2008, and after graduating from ACAD the following year, she returned there to work as a studio assistant.  Her piece, entitled Canadian Cod Cabaret of Canberra, is a culmination of her experiences in both Calgary and Canberra.  Her hot sculpted fish, with big red lips and tall boots, have a burlesque feel to them particularly as they are displayed on small, glittery stages.  These works are particularly tongue-in-cheek as both Calgary and Canberra are landlocked cities, with neither being particularly laden with sea life.

Jaan Poldaas; Rare Fruit; 25 cm, 10 cm; hot sculpted glass, 2010; photo: Jillian Logee

Jaan Poldaas has had a different experience in Australia.  His time spent as a resident at the Jam Factory in Adelaide has given him a keen sense of design, and this is evident in the works he displayed here.  Using coiled clear glass he focuses on the exterior shape of the glass and the distortion evident through the clear.  In other pieces, rings of red that are just off centre offset the clear glass. In placing them slightly off centre, he defines both the forms and the space they inhabit. The placement of the pieces is essential.  In some cases they are almost touching; in others, they need small amounts of space for the shapes of the pieces to be able to be really considered.  They communicate with one another and while each would be a beautiful object on its own, there is so much more to contemplate when they come together.

Natali Rodrigues; photo: Jillian Logee

Natali Rodrigues is currently the Head of the Glass Program at ACAD, but her path through Australia took place when she did her Masters degree at the Australian National University.  Her pieces in this exhibition deal with notions of scale.  Small solid pieces of transparent coloured glass are dwarfed by larger, densely coloured textured pieces which share a similarity of form. 

The relationship between things is also something that Katherine Lys deals with in her work.  Like Boha and Poldaas, Lys continues to call Australia home.  The impact of the Australian climate has had a profound impact on Katherine’s work.  The slow, meditative qualities are evident in pieces that are wood turned.  This quality is then translated to her glass pieces, the forms of which are complimented by the wood pieces.  Each of her pieces form a relationship to the one next to it.  In some cases this is quite literal, with a string of beads connecting one piece to another, and in other cases this is implied, with forms that mimic or compliment one another.

What is most evident from the work in this show is that an experience abroad remains personal to the individual involved.  From the emotional aspects of departure and arrival, to the nuts and bolts of what is learned somewhere new, each artist involved in “Round Trip” has managed to show us that no two trips from Canada to Australia are the same.

-

By Dave Lazzarino

It is often easy to take for granted what goes into making a work of art. Sure, the raw talent and fine basic ingredients to create something unique and artful are sometimes assumed. But any successful artisan will tell you, one of the most important elements to creation is far less exciting: patience. And a pair of glass workers in Windermere have got that virtue down to a science.

Julie Gibb and Gordon Webster of Sandpiper Studio began their careers in different places; Gord in Calgary and Julie in Toronto, both in the late ’90s. They met in Toronto and after living in the city for three years decided to come back to the Columbia Valley to share a slower kind of existence. And if things couldn’t get much slower, that’s when the waiting began.

The two decided to build their shop just off Kootenay Rd. #3 in Windermere. The building construction itself took about a year followed by the equipment, both prefabricated and specially-made, which took up the next year. Of course, any new shop, particularly one that specializes in the delicate art of glass-blowing, has its finer details to work out.

Now, after all of that, the two seem relatively relaxed in their shop. Perhaps because earlier this month, they held an open house with some of their pieces on display, offering a finished product for their hard work.

“The opening was great for that,” said Julie.  “Often the shop’s kind of a mess and there’s so much that actually goes into the work.”

Gord agreed. “It’s pretty easy to lose sight of whether you’re accomplishing something at all,” he said, adding that it could get frustrating when the planning stages began to take so long that he questioned whether he remembered how to make the works at all.

Julie Gibb's whimsical enameled functional ware

The two work together to produce a lot of their pieces. Gord’s include larger bowls and vases. They incorporate swirling patterns and space-age shapes with natural forms fused to them and sandblasted to expose underlying surprises of colour. They balance the delicate nature of any piece of translucent glass with a very bright and fun presence, giving a finished look like candied soap bubbles.

Julie has incorporated silkscreening to create decals that are later fired onto the glass to add fun and interesting designs to smaller pieces like cups and glasses.

- 

“I’m interested in more functional work,” she said, “more production oriented.”  Between the two, they offer a range of pieces for those interested in everything from a showpiece to a functional drinking glass. They do have a showroom in the front of their shop in Windermere. However, Julie and Gord prefer to have their work in galleries as sales can be a difficult thing to deal with when handling molten glass that can get as hot as 1300 degrees Fahrenheit. From the furnace, objects have more and more added to them slowly. They move back and forth between furnace and workstations to work the objects into different shapes. Finished pieces are added to another storage area where the temperature is brought down slowly to avoid cracking and warping.  “It’s got to be not so hot that it will slump on you in the kiln and not so cold that it will crack,” explained Gord of the delicate balance when working with the material. The process can take many days just to produce one piece.  All this time-consuming effort and patience seems to be working for the couple, who admit that they must be gluttons for it. And with two young kids to take care of along with their work they are certainly pushing their abilities.  “Some days I think we’ve totally lost our minds,” said Julie with a laugh. Of course the proof that they are handling it well is in the exquisite pieces of art they have to show for their work.  Anyone interested in seeing both Gord’s and Julie’s work can find some of it at Artym Gallery in Invermere or contact Darryl Crane at reporter2@invermerevalleyecho.com or 250.342.9216.

NATALI RODRIGUES:  PROXIMITY & TOUCH

Discovery Gallery, Alberta Craft Council, Edmonton

April 17 – May 29, 2010

By: Robyn Weatherley

Recent works of Canadian artist Natali Rodrigues were displayed this spring in a stunning solo exhibition entitled Proximity & Touch in the Discovery Gallery at the Alberta Craft Council.  The exhibition displayed pieces that used glass sculpture and printmaking to explore the notion of proximity and touch through corporeal and psychological implications.  Although the majority of the work displayed was glass, one large print functioned as a platform launching the concept into a second dimension.

Natali Rodrigues, Proximity & Touch

Upon entering the gallery viewers were inevitably situated among the many glass objects in a delight for the senses.  During the initial survey, the diversity in glassworking techniques became apparent.  Rodrigues communicates her ideas through manipulation of scale, surface texture, opacity, form and colour.  There are sleek and aerodynamic objects that one can imagine cutting silently through the air, highly polished works resembling sparkling precious stones and jewels, and coarse and satin textured glass with great likeness to stones found in nature.  Brilliant colours emerge and muted colours retreat.  The desire to touch and explore the objects is almost irresistible.

Natali Rodrigues, Proximity & Touch Print

Traditionally, touching glass displayed in galleries is not permitted, mostly because of its seemingly fragile and precious nature.  This appears to hold true in most exhibitions of current contemporary glasswork.  The layout and presentation of Rodrigues’ body of work in the Discovery Gallery allowed for a diversion from tradition.  Some of the objects were made accessible to touch while others were encased in vitrines on top of plinths.  This assortment of displays allowed for viewers to get close, touch and explore the hidden facets of some work such as Proximity & Touch #8, a smooth opaque white elliptical object with a small dimple on the surface.  Examining the apparently silky surface with the eyes is pleasantly reinforced when touch is also employed.  The dimple is the perfect shape and size for one to run his or her forefinger back and forth along its surprisingly rough surface.  Tension is built between viewers and the enclosed objects as we can only imagine touching them and the desire mounts to discover what hidden secrets they hold.

Each glass component is aesthetically unique and can function independently; however, what brings greater meaning to the work is the tension or lack thereof in the negative spaces between objects.  Rodrigues has put great care and attention into the design of angles and cuts and how they affect these relationships.  Her work holds strong references to casual interaction as well as intimate connections.  For example, in Proximity & Touch #12, a large opaque black teardrop-shape glass form with a rough surface tenuously balances off centre a miniscule rounded transparent green glass gem.  The depth of the black glass creates such an ominous weight that it feels as though the space between it and the buoyant little gem could collapse at any moment.  In other work, the negative space is neutralized by the angles created.  These works convey a more relaxed feeling and sometimes seemingly no relationship at all to each other.

The relationships Rodrigues has intentionally created between the three-dimensional and two-dimensional objects in her work provokes questions as well as provides insight into how we interpret body language and what constitutes a relationship, no matter how insignificant the connection might seem.  Proximity & Touch successfully translates the intangibility of a variety of relationships into tangible beautifully hand crafted objects.

NATALI RODRIGUES:  PROXIMITÉ ET CONTACT
Gallerie Discovery, conseil des métier d’art d’Alberta
du 17 Avril au 29 Mai 2010

Par: Robyn Weatherley
Traduit de l’anglais au français par Mathieu Grodet
Le récent travail de l’artiste Canadienne Natali Rodrigues était exposé ce printemps dans une superbe exposition solo titré Proximity & Touch à la galerie Discovery au centre des métier d’art d’Alberta. Le travail présenté utilise la sculpture en verre et la gravure explorant la notion de proximité et de contact à travers les expériences du corps et de l’esprit. Malgré que la majorité du travail exposé était en verre, il y avait une grande gravure qui fonctionnait comme une rampe de lancement propulsant le concept dans une  seconde dimension.

Natali Rodrigues, Proximity et Contact

En entrant dans la galerie, le spectateur se retrouvait inévitablement parmi une multitude d’objets en verre qui entrainait un plaisir des sens. Au premier coup d’oeil, la diversité des techniques du travail du verre c’est alors avérée évidente. Rodrigues fait passer ses idées par la manipulation d’échelle, de texture et de surface, l’opacité, la forme et la couleur. Il ya des objets élancée et aérodynamique que l’on peut imaginer évoluer silencieusement dans l’air, des objets polis très brillant ressemblant à d’étincelantes pierres précieuses ou bijoux,  et des objets en verre texturés et d’autres satinés rappelant des pierres trouvées dans la nature. Les couleurs les plus brillantes ressortes tandis que les couleurs sombres se rétractent. Le désir de toucher et de s’approprier les objets semble irrésistible.

Natali Rodrigues, Proximity & Touch Print

Habituellement, toucher le verre dans les galeries n’est pas autorisés, principalement en raison de son caractère fragile et précieux. Ceci est vrai dans la plupart des expositions de la verrerie contemporaine actuelle. La manière de présenter l’ensemble des pièces de Rodrigues dans la Galerie Discovery permet un détournement de la tradition. Certains de ces objets étaient accessibles au toucher, tandis que d’autres ont été enfermés dans des vitrines ou des cloches. Cette façon de présenter les objets permet au spectateur de se rapprocher,  de toucher ou d’explorer les faces cachées de certaines pièces telle que Proximity & Touch #8, un objet blanc lisse et opaque de forme elliptique avec un petit creux sur la surface. L’examen de la surface en apparence soyeuse est agréable pour les yeux est confirmer lorsque le toucher est également employé. La forme et la taille du creux s’adapte parfaitement pour qui veux passer et repasser son doigt afin de sentir cette surprenante surface rugueuse. Une tension est créée entre le spectateur et l’objet enfermé sous sa cloche, plus il imagine la toucher, plus le désir de découvrir son secret caché augmente.

Chaque élément de verre est esthétiquement unique et peut fonctionner de façon indépendante, cependant, ce qui apporte une grande signification à ce travail c’est la présence ou l’absence de tension dans l’espace qui sépare les objets. Rodrigues a mis beaucoup de soin et d’attention dans la conception des angles et des coupes, et comment ils affectent l’éspace. Son travail contient de forte références aux interactions occasionnels ainsi qu’à des connexions intimes. Par exemple, dans Proximity & Touch #12, une grande goutte de verre noir opaque avec une surface rugueuse est en équilibre légèrement décentrer sur une minuscule pierre précieuse arrondie en verre vert transparent. La profondeur du verre noir crée une impression poids inquiétant ,comme si l’espace entre la goutte et la pierre risquait de s’effondrer à tout moment. Dans d’autres travaux, l’espace entre les objets est neutralisé par les angles créé. Ces œuvres traduisent un sentiment plus détendu et parfois apparemment aucune relation les uns avec les autres.

Les relations que Rodrigues a intentionnellement créé entre les objets en trois dimensions et en deux dimensions soulèvent des questions aussi bien qu’ils fournissent un aperçu de la façon dont nous interprétons le langage corporel et ce qui constitue une relation, peu importe l’ insignifiance du lien. Proximity & Touch traduit avec succès l’intangibilité d’une variété de relations à travers de magnifiques objets tangibles fait à la main artisanalement.

By Jill Allan

‘Crows’ fused glass with powder drawings by Tammy Hudgeon of Gabriola Island. This artwork was used as the invitation image for Cross Pollination.

The BCGAA hosted some member events this fall:  a members’ exhibition, a Christmas market and fundraiser, and an educational booth opportunity at the Circle Craft Christmas Market.

In September, the bi-annual members’ exhibition was presented at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown, Vancouver.  This year’s theme was Cross Pollination:

‘With a deft brush movement, flower growers cross-pollinate plants to cultivate hybrids with new forms and colours that delight gardeners. Artists take equal delight in that spark of discovery that captures an insight from work by another artist or in another medium.  Whether exploring a new glass-working technique, meshing glass with another material, or translating a traditional technique into glass, our members are inspired by the work of other artists to extend the range of what glass can express.’

BCGAA report opening of Cross Pollination,.the BC Glass Arts Association’s Members’ show at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletow, Vancouver. September 2010 group photo of the artists

(Back Row from Left – Peter Medley, Michelle Mathias, James Ceaser, Jean Paull, Melanie Rowe, Naoko Takenouchi, Leslie Rowe-Israelson, Waine Ryzak, Suzanne Basnett, Sonya Labrie, Braden Hammond.
In Front – Yves Trudeau, Malcolm McFadyen, Andrew Luketic, Lynne Chappell)

A visitor observes work by (left-right) Naoko Takenouchi ‘Earth, Sea and Air’, Wayne Ryzak ‘Hedical Flames of Passion’, and Melanie Rowe ‘Phylly’.

Collaborations between artists were encouraged as well as works that crossed into new media exploration and combinations.  Visit the web site for more information, to see more of the art work presented and to see who the award winners were:  www.bcgaa.org.

Visitors view wall installation ‘Migrations’ by Jenny Judge, an untitled acrylic painting by Robert Held in the background, as well as sculptural work ‘Gracious Hostility’ by Ed Colberg and fused wall piece ‘Dreamscape’ by Laura Murdoch.

Maria Keating displays her lampwork at the BCGAA Christmas show at Robert Held Art Glass in Vancouver.

Robert Held hosted the BCGAA Christmas Market again this year.  Robert Held opened his studio to the public to help raise funds and public awareness for the BCGAA.  There were demos in the hot shop, “Cooking with Glass”, and a general sharing of enthusiasms as well as selling some work.  There are more snaps of the two-day event on the BCGAA web site.

BCGAA has been invited to participate in Vancouver’s Circle Craft Christmas Market this year as an educational booth.  Works by members will be exhibited as well as a slide presentation of images about members’ work and glass making processes.  Circle Craft Christmas Market has moved into the new Vancouver Convention Centre this year and takes place Nov 17^th-21st.  Malcolm MacFadyen will be hosting the ‘Totally Amazing Glass Show’ during the CCC Market, setting up his portable glass blowing studio where lampworking and glass blowing demonstrations will take place for the entertainment of the patrons.  For more information visit:  www.circlecraft.net.

Robert Held, Chago Vargas and Tara Connors of RHAG prepare a giant snowman during a glassblowing demonstration at the BCGAA Christmas show.

Jill Allan is one of the GAAC Regional Representatives for B.C.  She graduated from the Alberta College of Art + Design in Calgary in 1999.  She currently lives on Vancouver Island, travelling to Chemainus, Vancouver and Victoria to make her work.

By Silvia Taylor

Residents Robert Peyregatt and Brad Turner working at Harbourfront Centre's hotshop

The summer residency at the Toronto Harbourfront Center is a scholarship opportunity for students who are enrolled in a in a post-secondary Crafts program. The position provides students with the hands-on experience of working with their craft in a professional studio environment. The experience prepares summer residents for the rest of their academic career and, perhaps more to the point, helps to prepare them for a career in their craft. For the Centre, it is an opportunity to show their support for the next generation of craft students. The centre and its residency can demonstrate to the student participants that contemporary craft is a respected and encouraged art form.

View of the coldshop, and roll-up garage door that provides relief in summer.

The facility is a small and cozy glass-blowing studio with one pot furnace and two benches at which to work, including access to oxygen and propane. The workspace also includes a garage, colour box, pick-up box, and top and front-loading annealers. On the other side of the studio is a cold-working area consisting of a sandblaster, lathe, lap wheel, drill press, diamond saw, and belt sander. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Harbourfront’s craft studio layout is that it gives pedestrian visitors the opportunity to stop and watch the craftspeople at work by peering over the railing that follows along the hallway. This gives viewers the chance to watch the glass residents and their process in a setting not usually seen.

Harbourfront residents work together as people spectate.

This summer I was thrilled to have been selected as one of the summer residents and I fully expected that the experience would be extremely beneficial and gratifying. I certainly was not disappointed. I found Harbourfront Centre to be an inspiring environment in which a student can work. Moving from an educational setting to a professional environment requires a huge shift in one’s mindset. Suddenly I went from working alongside my fellow students to working side by side with those who are making glass for a living. I was able to observe their lifestyle and understand the degree of effort that goes into being a full time artist. I now clearly understand the sacrifices I would have to make. The residents were each doing it in their own way. In fact, the diversity among the residents was what made my experience so influential. Each resident had his or her own unique aesthetic, experiences, teachers, technique, and use for the material. During my summer residency, each resident helped me out in different ways so that, collaboratively, they helped to broaden my awareness and knowledge of glass.

The experience was not just about the summer residency. I was curious to know what the full time residents gained from having students in the studio. It was obvious to me that I was gaining a lot from the experience but I wondered how my limited knowledge of the material and studio experience could benefit the full-time residents. When I asked a few of them, they agreed that it was nice having a few new faces in the studio and, along with that, some fresh outlook on the material and an enthusiastic approach. They were also curious to hear what we are up to and how we plan to evolve our work.

View of the hotshop from the raised public catwalk.

The summer residency position was an incredible experience that I encourage all craft students to apply for when they’re eligible. My time at Harbourfront has helped me refine my concepts and fine-tune my technical skills. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity before entering my final year in the Sheridan College Glass Program.

By Mary-Beth Laviolette

(reprinted with permission from Galleries West Magazine, Summer 2010 (p 36-37))

Angela Bedard, If, photo: artist

It’s possible that contemporary glass is overtaking ceramics as the pre-eminent craft in Alberta – not so much in terms of number of practitioners, but in quality and range of work, breadth-of imagination and engagement with contemporary society and visual culture.  The evidence is in the energies and input of emerging artists, and the ongoing commitment of established artists.

Julia Reimer, Home, photo: John Dean

Organized by the Calgary Glass Initiative, this is the second survey of glass art from Calgary and surrounding aeas mounted at the Triangle Gallery since 1995.  Together with the recent Alberta Craft Council display of Glass 2009 in Edmonton, there is the impression that the instructional efforts of the Alberta College of Art + Design and Red Deer College, as well as the collective and shared studio arrangements of many Alberta glass artists, is paying off handsomely.  Glass 2009 featured $90,000-worth of work acquired for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts collection – including pieces by Martha Henry, Tyler Rock, Julia Reimer, Tim Belliveau and Ryan Marsh Fairweather, who also appear in this exhibition.

In the last couple of decades, contemporary art glass has sometimes been undermined by a reputation of being like candy floss:  big, decorative and supremely precious.  In Calgary Glass Now, the work ranges from blown to cast to factory-produced (incorporating items like glass teacups and commercial mirrors), and the spirit is less about a precious medium and more about a material, with all its peculiarities.  In that regard, there were some surprising moments, like Lori Sobkowich’s “An Unguarded Prayer.”  Made in response to the turmoil of Afghanistan, Sobkowich transforms a traditional Christian-themed stained glass church window with motifs from central Asia.  Natali Rodrigues’ “Begegnung” resonated in the same way – a deceptively simple plaque of cast and polished glass in which the spiritual idea of grace is given material form.

There was also real substance in Jamie Gray’s commentary-rich, “Have Your Cake,” and Tyler Rock’s “Cannon,” as well as “Catch” from his Riel Rebellion-inspired Almighty Voice series.  For visual impact, Gray’s large-scale wall-mounted work, with its image of outstretched hands, was the more effective of the three works and I wondered if Rock’s two artefact-filled bell jars were too small in scale for their content.  Martha Henry’s flameworked figurative sculpture of bird women featured in “Metamorphosis” also raises questions of scale.  These mythological figures were beautifully executed, but teeny-tiny, tipping over into cuteness.

It should be mentioned that Rock’s and Gray’s work would have looked fine in a contemporary art exhibition, crossing the arbitrary and sometimes silly divide between craft and art.  Other work that easily made that leap – Robyn Weatherley’s photograph-laden “Retrieval” which investigated memory, and the gender themes of Liz Bowen’s bodily “Ornamentation of Sustainability.”  In a more modernist temperament, there was also Robert Geyer’s stunning minimalist composition of pulled glass rods, “Alberta Color Gradient,” with its references to 1960s colour field painting.

A few words should be said for glass art of a purer sort, the kind that revels largely in what this material excels at, especially with light and colour.  David Blankenstyn, Bonny Houston and Barry Fairbairn have each contributed a vase-shaped work – a more traditional format – but given their sheer beauty, is anything else really needed?  Glass veteran Jim Norton’s “Floor Lamp” is far more elaborate in function and appearance, but it’s also part of the reason why there is much that glows in this latest survey.

September 2010 at Vetri Glass-Seattle

David Calles: Combinaciones de Filigrana

Exhibition Dates: September 2nd – 30th, 2010

Artist Reception: Thursday, September 2nd, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Vetri Glass-Seattle is pleased to present glass artist David Calles in Combinaciones de Filigrana, his first solo exhibition with the gallery.  The show features colorful blown and cold-worked glass sculptures in classic geometric shapes. Working in a studio that overlooks the waterways of Victoria, Calles is influenced by his natural surroundings.  He passionately endeavors to capture a “little shock of color from nature” in his vivacious sculptures.

Calles chooses simple forms like ovals, squares, and rectangles, as canvases for brilliant expressions of color.  His “Pimpollo” series, a name taken from the Argentine vernacular for any perfect and elegant object, resemble the teardrop silhouette of a rosebud.  Just as the bud is a symbol of spring and life, the bright colors and visual electricity of the Pimpollos act as a year-round reminder of the exuberance of spring.

Elements of each piece — understated forms, bold cane patterns, variations in surface texture — are meticulously crafted to highlight the relationships between contrasting and complimentary hues.  With deft precision Calles cuts and fuses pieces of glass cane into flat sheets that he then picks up onto a gather of hot glass.  The sheets of cane have to match the diameter of the bubble exactly in order to retain the integrity of the design.  Each color expands according to its viscosity creating the hypnotic ebb and flow of the cane pattern.

David Calles has owned and operated Miramontes Artworks in Victoria BC — a studio for independent glass artists as well as a resource for designers and non-glass artists – since 2007.  Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Calles went on to study in London, England and train as a silversmith in Mexico before receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Art from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and graduated from the glass program at Sheridan in Ontario, Canada. He has studied under Laura Donefer, Randy Walker and Ed Schmidt and his sculptures are exhibited in galleries across Canada and the United States.

Vetri Glass

Contact: Susan Marabito, Director

susan@vetriglass.com

1404 First Avenue, Seattle WA, 98101

Phone: 206.667.9608 Facsimile: 206.621.9447

1821 E Dock St #101, Tacoma WA, 98402

Phone: 253.383.3692 Facsimile: 253.383.3687

Image details: “ Pimpollo Rosebud”, 15”h x 22”w x 6”d, blown glass, 2010.

For images and additional information please visit: www.vetriglass.com

A Review of the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

By: Steven Tippin

The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE), held July 9 to 11, 2010, began the same as any other year: too much rain, too few parking spaces and very little sleep. In its 49th year, TOAE is a juried showcase featuring contemporary fine art and craft that takes place on Nathan Phillip’s Square at the foot of Toronto’s City Hall.

As the largest outdoor art exhibition in Canada, it offers a fresh-air alternative to conventional art shows and galleries. An estimated 100,000 visitors attend the exhibition every year, including a number of gallery representatives and art dealers.  Side-by-side, established artists, undiscovered talents and entrepreneurial students sell their work directly to the public and make lasting connections with art dealers and collectors.

This year, TOAE featured 384 artists from painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, drawing, fibre, glass, jewellery, metal, mixed media, watercolour and wood. The 2010 show had 22% fewer artists overall than the previous year, due to construction at Nathan Phillip’s Square; however, there were 50% fewer glass artists.

With an economy that is reportedly on the mend, glass artists had various reasons for participating and those who did not apply had equally compelling reasons for not participating this year.

Muriel Duval, a flameworker who traveled from her studio in Laval, Quebec was one of 19 glass exhibitors at TOAE. “My first goal was to gain exposure and to display my art to new customers,” said Duval. “I was also looking for networking if galleries or curators were interested in my creations.” She described the show as being a successful venture in which she nearly ran out of inventory.

Arron Lowe decided not to apply, but had previously exhibited in the show for five consecutive years. He pondered whether or not the show offered enough exposure and compensation to offset the demanding workload.

“I’d often envy the 2D artists who show up with a luggage trolley, setting up in record time,” Lowe explained.  “On the flip-side, as a glass artist, I’ve got a truck, dozens of boxes, plinths, a dolly and hopefully a friend who is not working that day to help lug it all to the booth.  Not to mention all the work leading up to the show.”

Lowe also mentioned that he wanted to enjoy the show as a non-exhibiting artist. “I have not ‘seen’ the show in six years!  Being a participant means you are pretty much tied to your own booth. I was really looking forward to attending this year’s show, and it did not disappoint.  It was still a great opportunity to be the reunion it always is, but I also had a chance to see some really amazing art.”

While TOAE is the largest outdoor art exhibition of its kind in Canada, it is one of many shows this summer for glass artists to showcase their talent. For those of you who are about to showcase your work in a different show this summer, or for those of you who are thinking about applying for next year, here is a list of tips and advice from glass artists who participated in TOAE 2010:

Toan Klein: “Stay upbeat. Have fun. Don’t forget that you’re there to sell. Leave your ego at home. Oh yeah, sometimes it’s wise to put yourself between your work and some of the characters that meander by.”

June Pham: “Bring something like museum gel or draft stop if your work is subject to wind.”

Amanda Parker: “Try to display your work consistently and with your own aesthetic in mind. Bring lots of food and water! Oh, and if you are bringing a tent make sure it is easy to set up!”

Muriel Duval: “85% of my sales were with credit cards.  I believe that it is a must at that show. You cannot afford to lose a sale because you don’t take credit cards.”

Emma Gerard: “Make your display simple to transport and simple to setup.”

Jeff MacIntosh: “If you’re intending on selling work at the show and making a profit, make sure you bring a variety of work to cover all price points. Low cost-high volume works tends to be the easiest to sell. Make sure all work is professional cold-worked and ready to sell.”

Steven Tippin: “When applying to juried shows, it is important to have good images of your artwork. At the show, stay hydrated and make time to eat. Hours can easily fly by between meals when you are in the sun talking about your work.”

Tara Macdonald: “If you want customers to take your work seriously, make your booth look as professional as possible.”

GLASS ARTISTS RECOGNIZED AT TOAE

Each year, TOAE presents more than $30,000 in awards and prizes to participating artists. Glass artists at TOAE 2010 were recognized with the following awards:

• Paull Rodrigue (Best of Category-Glass)
• Steven Tippin (Best Student Glass & Marie Collins Memorial Award)
• Aaron Oussoren (Glass Honourable Mention)

TOAE 2010 BY THE NUMBERS

• 1,200 applications juried in 2010
• 384 artists invited to participate
• 22% fewer participants than 2009
• 47% fewer glass artists in TOAE 2010 than 2009
• 17% fewer painters in TOAE 2010 than 2009

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