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Process and Inspiration
How do these three artists develop unique ways of sculpting with glass?
By now, you can probably recognize a Dale Chihuly sculpture. His luminous, colorful artworks push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of glass sculpture. But Chihuly is not the only artist working in this medium. The three artists featured here, contemporaries of Chihuly, also work in glass. But each uses a unique process and source of inspiration, with very different results.
Christina Bothwell (b. 1960), Whenever I Look, I See You, 2013. Glass and mixed media, 15x14x15in. (38.1x35.6x38.1cm). Courtesy of Heller Gallery, New York.
How does Bothwell experiment with mixed media?
Back to Nature
Christina Bothwell lived in New York City and Philadelphia when she was young. She eventually moved to rural Pennsylvania so she could be closer to nature, which inspires her work. The artist is interested in the spiritual world, mythology, and dreams, and her sculptures explore these themes. Many of Bothwell’s works are figurative, featuring babies, children, and animals. The artist explains that glass sculptures “can do everything that other sculptural media can; in addition, it offers an inner space and transmits light.”
Bothwell works in a complex process involving cast glass and mixed media. To create her 2013 sculpture Whenever I Look, I See You, above, the artist began by melting glass at 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Then she poured it inside a mold shaped like a little girl holding a bird. Separately, Bothwell sculpted the figure’s head with clay. Once the glass cooled and she fired the clay, Bothwell assembled the work. How does the artist explore form using a different process than Chihuly?
Preston Singletary (b. 1963), The Sun Danced in the Sky, 2016. Blown and sandcarved glass. 27.75x13x4in. (70x33x10cm). (#S16-26) Courtesy Preston Singletary. Photo by Russell Johnson.
How does Singletary use aspects of European and Tlingit traditions in this work?
Multiple Traditions
“My work with glass transforms the notion that Native artists are only best when traditional materials are used,” says Preston Singletary. He is a Tlingit (TLING-guht) artist who lives in the Pacific Northwest, where there is a long tradition of woodcarving. Singletary began his glassblowing practice by learning European methods, but he felt connected with the medium only when he began making artworks inspired by his Tlingit cultural heritage. Singletary also sandcarves some of his glass sculptures. This means he uses a high-pressure machine to blast away some areas on the glass surface, creating a design. His 2016 sculpture The Sun Danced in the Sky, above, incorporates European methods of glassblowing and sandcarving in a style that is unique to the Pacific Northwest.
Amber Cowan (b. 1981), Dance of the Pacific Coast Highway at Sunset, 2019. Glass and mixed media, 34x46x12.5in. (86x117x32cm). Courtesy of Amber Cowan. Photo by Constance Mensh.
How does Cowan connect past and present in her art?
Second Life
Philadelphia artist Amber Cowan finds inspiration in glassware made during the middle of the 20th century. She scours the internet and antique shops for examples of old pressed glass. Pressed glass is a common type of mass-produced glass. Cowan then reshapes the items she finds using a flameworking torch. Cowan explains that she works with glass that was “abandoned to the dustbins of American design.” With her unique vision and process, she gives these discarded found objects a second life.
For her 2019 Dance of the Pacific Coast Highway at Sunset, above, Cowan develops a monochromatic (all one color) composition featuring many small flowers, leaves, and other tiny objects. She arranges the objects so that they create a frame. Within the frame, small ballerinas and animals perform on a miniature stage in the center. Although the work hangs on a wall like a two-dimensional painting, Cowan explores three-dimensional form through her use of depth, found objects, and composition.