GASNews October/ November 2011 Volume 22 ... - Glass Art Society

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Reuben and Isabel Toledo at Pilchuck (Russell Johnson photo) Dante Marioni and Kiki Smith at Pilchuck (Russell Johnson photo) who is familiar with the glass world and glassworkers, but Pilchuck would be her first endeavor working directly with the material. She went to Pilchuck with the idea that she would incorporate glass into a long-term and well-developed project based on the lives of leaf-cutter ants. “Leaves are glasslike,” she explains. “They have a transparency to them and you can see right through them if the lighting is right.” She is currently creating an installation in which a rhinoceros-size ant is destroying a section of a gallery. As part of this project, she set out to create large-scale leaves in different stages of being eaten by the ant. Prior to her residency, Chalmers worked with Clifford Rainey (California College of the Arts) to make a prototype for the leaves. It was quickly determined that kilnforming the glass would yield both the close-up details and the size and shape needed. She worked on design drawings, molds and pre-ordered glass in different consistencies. Ordering the glass was difficult at first, Chalmers said, as she had never seen the colors in person. Eventually a friend loaned her a Bullseye Glass sample kit and she settled on a frit that was light colored and chunky for some parts of the leaves and some that was dark and fine – hoping to combine the two to achieve the random cellular look of leaves seen close up. Arriving at Pilchuck with a plan and materials, Chalmers was ready to cast her leaves. For Chalmers, this experience was much better than art school, not because of the opportunity to concentrate solely on this project, but because of the generosity of the people at Pilchuck. She was impressed with the collaborative nature of the work accomplished there and found it to be similar to watching a well-choreographed ballet. Despite her extensive preparation, there were elements of the process that surprised and confounded her. After days of work, an interruption in the power supply would result in breakage, something that glass artists become used to in time but is always shocking to those outside the field. The idea of working with something that breaks a lot was something she was completely unprepared for. Prior to arriving at Pilchuck, she understood that numerous processes would be available to her but the fact that so many hardto-control variables were at play when working with glass was unexpected. In addition to her leaves, Chalmers wanted to create an ant colony in glass but found it technically difficult to do it in the hotshop. After discussions with several of the artists, she determined that by making the piece in modular sections in lampworked glass she would be able to create the chambers as if dug by the ants themselves. It was like being in an art reality television show: she would experience a new technique or process, and an idea would crop up and she would quickly draw up plans for the next part. And it was fun. On Chalmers’ last day at Pilchuck, she made it into the Print Shop to try glass-plate printing; she made two resists and two embossings. Sadly, the breakage of her cast leaves 10
Far Left: Rashaad Newsome, May/June 2011 AiRs (Russell Johnson photo) Catherine Chalmers, July 2011 AiRs (photo courtesy of the artist) left her with the realization that (1) even when you do everything right there can be a tremendously high attrition rate in glass, and (2) while creating works in glass is a great idea, it comes at a very high cost. Chalmers worked with several dedicated assistants at Pilchuck during her residency, including Jay Macdonell, Michael Fox and Jessie Blackmer (see the student profile on page 24). Over the years, Pilchuck has issued invitations to such renowned artists as Lynda Benglis (1984, 1985, 1995), Kiki Smith (1991, 1993, 1997), Maya Lin (1994), Deborah Butterfield (1997), Jim Dine (1999), Anne Wilson (2005) and, most recently, dancer Rasheed Newsom (2011) among the others already mentioned (Paley, 1998; Chicago, 2003; the Toledos, 2009). After her residency, Benglis took her knot series from casting metal to cast glass. In 2006, post-Pilchuck residency, Chicago’s show Chicago in Glass opened in Santa Fe. The Pilchuck AiRs program makes glass accessible to artists outside our somewhat sequestered medium by providing studios, assistants and materials that are too costly and complicated for most to obtain on their own. It probably would not have happened without the openness of the Studio Glass Movement. Collaborations with these artists can and should infuse the glass world with more creativity and diversity of thought and expand the medium in its post-Studio decades. The program is remarkable for its contribution in merging the Studio Glass Movement with the rest of the fine arts world. It is freedom of expression in glass for all. The author thanks Ruth King, Allison Kramer and John Reed (all from Pilchuck), Jim Butler, Wendell Castle, Tricia Tinling (Wendell Castle Studio), Catherine Chalmers and John McQueen for their contributions to this article. Image Gallery For more images from Pilchuck Glass School, click here. 11
Page 1 and 2: GAS News October/ November 2011 Vol
Page 3 and 4: GAS Line GAS 2012: Three Honorees!
Page 5 and 6: Matt Durran Floating Glass (kiln-fo
Page 7 and 8: physical plant are housed in a buil
Page 9: Tavares Strachen at Pilchuck (Russe
Page 13 and 14: Lemon/Ruby/Blue Vertical Group by H
Page 15 and 16: the tongue of the trailer and a dee
Page 17 and 18: Glassworks’ Juicy Lucy, the Blowi
Page 19 and 20: Sweden (image 4) At the Millesgård
Page 21 and 22: Scottish artist Graham Muir's work
Page 23 and 24: The Glass Furnace is located in the
Page 25: GAS Toledo 2012: Key Dates & Inform

GASNews October/ November 2011 Volume 22 ... - Glass Art Society

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