Friday, March 11, 2011

Glass Octopus of Light?




Rika Hawes can be described many ways:cold worker, glass blower, kiln caster,performance artist, professor, business owner and the list goes on. For January she installed this precarious, many tentacled, flowing light animal. A wonderful treat the viewer encounters is upon approach is a reflective view when you look up.
More about her and her work can be found at
http://web.mac.com/rikahawes/iWeb/Site/start%20here.html

Shoefitti



Inspiration is often found in our everyday observations. Deborah Czeresko found some in hers and created this piece which has shown in a variety of locations including Hudson Beach Glass Phila's window for the month of November.

“Shoefitti”

An Installation By Deborah Czeresko

This installation is inspired by the urban phenomena of throwing shoes over power lines to create various sneaker groupings bounded only by the length of the laces and the length of the electrical wire. The glass installation creates a parallel with anonymous (outlaw) shoe-throwers yet formalizes their process to become art. “I am particularly attracted to forms created by the melding of intention with chance and randomness that is apparent in these weirdly morphed assemblages of sneakers,” says Czeresko. Czeresko’s sculpture capitalizes on object-accretion to meld intentionality with chance. Using discarded shoes to make molds, she and her team then blow glass into the molds and place the resulting glass shoes over a wire or pipe, hanging from their “laces”. “I love the idea that on the street various people collectively and anonymously create these colorful assemblages of shoes that many don’t consider art”, she comments, “Their results are almost always formally beautiful and original”. Interesting too, is there are conflicting mythologies explaining what the sneaker-accumulations mean. Some say they relate to gang culture, while others have said they mark illicit drug territory. Czeresko says. “To me, it’s a prime example of a piece of art that doesn’t necessarily belong in an art gallery because they can continue to grow outside where they spontaneously come to exist. It is a narrative of accumulation without a beginning or end. The dialog between a “shoefitti” artist and the site exists in the past, present and future simultaneously. When a person comes with a new pair of sneakers they never know where the first one was placed.”

The urban shoe aggregates, which are easily, marginalized as vandalism, on some levels thematically parallel the world of material centric art, which for the large part has been artistically segregated from the formalist art world. Czeresko’s glass sneakers are also seemingly in art limbo or purgatory, floating, they literally symbolize the question of categorization in the world of art with allegiances to outlaw art like graffiti with their material segregation and formalist art like painting because they are simultaneously specific yet violate the rules of intentional order. Paradoxically, glass has recently become a part of the larger vocabulary of contemporary art. As fabricating in glass has moved from a struggle for technique to complete freedom of expression, interest in this material for sculptural use has mushroomed in the fine art world. But, many people who work solely with glass are ghettoized and cannot show work outside of the glass community, some are happy, others are not. The shoefitti installation brings to light many of the issues inherent in that juxtaposition.

“I think it is finally a time when anything or nothing can be used to make art. Glass has been liberated to be just another one of those materials which can be used in the servitude of expression.” Czeresko began stretching material categorization with her participation in the first performative glass group the now defunct “B team” whose aim was to infuse the art world with the potential of glass and the glass world with the potential of art. She continues to push that boundary as a member of the collaborative group known as the “Burnt Asphalt Family” whose stated goal is to explore the links between the kitchen and the glass studio where they use the studio to recontextualize the meaning of both cooking and glassblowing.

Deborah Czeresko is a New York City artist who also is an accomplished glassblower and glassfabricator.

dbcz@me.com

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Before the Storm



Danielle Ruttenberg graced the transom with this light and airy piece. LED Fairy lights float in between the S-curve pieces of hot sculpted glass and fused together cane pieces. A delicate and nebulous light emission.
More about this artist can be found at http://danielleruttenberg.com/index.htm

Light and Flow



I had an opening and was wondering who I was going to ask to do August's light exhibition. And then it occurred to me, hey, why not me?! I keep giving away these opportunities and not giving any to myself. Well, hooray for me and my turn. They are cast glass slabs, bas relief and oil paint. The top simple cut-out luann. All lit with rope lighting. Mellow and very in tune with the Hudson Beach Glass theme. Well, that's enough about me...who's next...

Friday, July 16, 2010

334,000 Lumens EGAD!

What is that brightness?, you ask

What could it be....

I'm blinded!

Ah 2 pairs of sunglasses later and I can se all. Evan Jespersen has once again out shined himself. I'm afraid to ask, but can it get any brighter?


Evan Jespersen was born in northeastern Massachusetts. He obtained his BFA from Alfred University in 2006. He took the position of Head Preparator at The Fosdick Nelson Gallery after graduating. In the spring and fall of 2008 he had the pleasure of being a faculty member at Alfred University in the department of Sculpture and Dimensional Studies. He has shown at many outdoor light shows including The Museum of Luminous Phenomenon, Binghamton’s First Night celebration, and The Corning Museum of Glass. His work is in private collections and on permanent display at Alfred University. He also has work in the permanent collection of The Museum of Luminous Phenomenon. His current studio is in northeastern Massachusetts near were he grew up.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Slither Squirm and Twirl




Eve Hoyt wormed her way through our window in June. She is local to the Philadelphia area. I'll let her explain herself.
"The motivation behind my work comes largely from my desire to make something with my hands, from concept to tangible form, while exploring the many possibilities of working with neon glass. My neon art is a mixture of traditional glass bending, lampworking techniques, and experimentation. I find the delicate nature of glass makes it an exciting material to work with, and I enjoy the spontaneous creative process. Although some pieces do have a personal meaning behind them, many exist simply out of the sheer joy I get from creating them. Working with neon, I feel fortunate to have a skill that is becoming a lost art. I take great pride in my abilities as a neon craftsperson and want to share with others the diversity of this old and interesting art form."
More of her work can be seen at
eveningneon.com

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Goblet?

So this year, August 2010, with more advanced notice, I'd like this show to be bigger and better. I want the gallery to runith over with goblets galore answering these deep and probing questions...

The goblet is a classical form made and augmented though the ages. Its significance has usually been to imply the regal standing of the owner. But what is the contemporary purpose of these ancient objects? Who are they for? In what ceremony are they participating? What is their place in everyday society? These are just some of the questions that our group of artists has attempted to answer. Some are more serious, while others turn this ancient artifact on its cup.

I'm definitely not looking for the traditional interpretation. I'm looking for the you. Let's show Phiadelphia your flare and dare them to drink from your cup.

If I have not already spoken to you please send images of your work to: jefrein@hudsonbeachglass.com
I am accepting submissions immediately. Please include with your submission:
1) a short bio
2) wholesale cost
3) contact info
4) if you email me a high res image I will try to include you on the card
5 )title of piece

The important dates are as follows:
1) Above info July 16th
2) Your goblet no later than Tue Aug 1st sooner most appreciated
3) Show opens Aug 6th for First Friday 5:30 -9:30 and ends September 30th
Any questions or comments email or call 267 319 1887

Ship to:
Hudson Beach Glass Phila
Goblet Show
26 S Strawberry St
Philadelphia, PA 19106