Presented in the Rankin East Gallery at Blowing Rock Art & History Museum
Studio Glass’s coalescence in the mid-20th century precipitated a renaissance of historic and new techniques for working glass. Where the medium had served utilitarian and commercial—if often aesthetic—purposes in the past, this flourishing relocated creative and material autonomy solely into the hands of the artist. When design and production were brought together, a wider array of objects and the material ideologies that shaped them came to bear on the seemingly most novel member of Studio Craft’s brood.
This exhibition draws together more recent works from the past 30 years that illustrate continued experimentation in sculptural glass. Ranging from the decidedly abstract to figural studies, these examples constitute only a small cross-section of the varied strategies deployed by artists as they continue to push and shape the medium to meet the needs of their own studio practices. In drawing from BRAHM’s permanent collection, directly from artist’s studio, and private collections, we are able to see examples of artists living and working in the region across recent generations.
Open August 2, 2022 – January 21, 2023. Check museum hours.
Art & Image Credit: Sarah Vaughn, Weatherworn Balance I, 2022, blown, flameworked, and assembled glass, 15.75 x 10 x 5 in (40 x 25.4 x 12.7 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
