Java.July.2017

“Glass can be anything,” Chakravarty explained by email. “It is the only material
that can be thick, thin, light, heavy, transparent, opaque, hollow, solid, manipulated
in so many diverse ways and, initially very important to me, could capture light, aka
neon.” Defining himself as an “object maker,” Chakravarty stresses how “personal
narrative drives the finished object.”
This is the kind of art Longo is most interested in, as well, the kind that is concept
and idea driven. While glass art is ancient, the modern studio glass movement
emerged from the factories and into smaller-scale studios and galleries in the early
sixties. Like ceramics before it, glass fought an uphill battle against parts of the arts
establishment that sneered at things perceived as crafty. While glass art has gained
wider acceptance, there are still some who harbor such notions.
Clearly, they’ve never been through the gallery at Circle 6 , where glass art of a
staggering variety lines shelves and tops pedestals. The first piece to draw my eye was
a red and blue bust of blind Lady Justice with a building sprouting from her upraised
elbow like a neoclassical tumor. Divided Ruling is one of artist James Labold’s works on
display. A recent artist-in-residence at Circle 6 , Labold holds an MFA from Ball State
and recently received the Glass Art Society’s 2016 Saxe Emerging Artist Award. Labold
explains that he uses “special blown molds that give a very high level of detail,
similar to casting.” For him, the technical aspects are “all in the service of the
concept.” Broken into nine red, white and blue segments, the Lady Justice piece
embodies the divisions within our justice system and society as a whole.
Chakravarty has work on display, as well. Double Vision depicts a double-stacked
billboard being tagged by two detailed, semitransparent spaceman figures.
It is a combination of cast and fused glass, with metal components, as well. The
spaceman is a repeating motif Chakravarty first adopted when Obama announced
his candidacy. He says it was meant to embody “the familiar compounded with
the unknown.” Restless Legs is from a recent series Chakravarty produced in
collaboration with artist Jennifer Caldwell. One of Caldwell’s famous lampworked
octopuses nestles in a semi-opaque coral form made by Chakravarty. They have a
whole series of similar scenes at galleries across the country and around the world,
some integrating the spaceman’s symbolic cousin, the diver.
The shop is itself a work of art. As you enter from the gallery, tucked to the right are
tiered wooden benches for audience seating. To the left is the huge bank of rough but efficient
furnaces, work surfaces and the assorted tools of the glass trade. Glassblowing involves
the use of three specialized types of furnaces: a standard furnace, a glory hole and
an annealer. The standard furnace contains a reservoir of glowing glass maintained
at around 2000 degrees and roughly the consistency of honey.
Punty rods or blow pipes are inserted and worked to build up material. They are kept
constantly moving to prevent the glass from sliding off. The glory hole furnaces are used
to reheat glass for shaping. Circle 6 ’s unique glory hole design allows one person to
operate them. Katy Czarnecki, the newest addition to the Circle 6 team, assured me that
they are unique and a vast improvement over the others she’s worked with.
On tall metal legs sits the annealer, the third furnace. Usually heated to a mere 800
degrees, it’s used to gradually cool or “relax” the glass and mitigate thermal shock.
Between the furnace and one of the glory holes is a horizontal rack of blow pipes
sitting with one end engulfed in little flames. These metal tubes are used to blow
bubbles into and expand glass. Near the glory holes are a number of kilns for fusing,
slump casting and sometimes annealing.
A variety of tools are scattered on work surfaces and benches. There are the
diamond shears to crimp or cut glass, used for such purposes as folding a trumpet
shape into a flower. There are mashers, jacks and other hand tools for manipulating
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MAGAZINE