En to Ana
En to Ana in Japanese translates to Circles and Holes. Cast in clear glass and standing 15in. by 10in. tall it is one of the artists' early vessel designs featuring glass inclusions. Two disks surfaced with gold leaf grace the center of this piece while two circular openings pierce the rear wall. The milky white interior, the result of an acid etching finish, gives the cast glass an assured dimensionality.
Architectural Forms 14
The piece Architectural Forms 14 utilizes “traditional” architectural forms. It employs the innovative idea of slab built cast glass vessels. As a piece Architectural Forms 14 suggests mass and is intriguing in the way the cast glass captures light. The surface is acid etched. This method accents the mold marks and give the work a stone like quality. Cobalt and Iris Gold enamel create a visually textured backdrop for the transparencies and depressions that generate this piece. Architectural Forms 14 is 17in. tall and 12in. wide by 5in. in depth.
Crimson Meridian
Yet another offering from the Breastplate series Crimson Meridian stands a full 19 in. in height. Within the central glass inclusion of Iris Gold is a cast channel that interrupts the facade. It frames a column of red and ox blood murrini. This cylindrically formed vessel is joined with a solitary seam in the back. This work embodies many time-honored elements of my cast glass vessels. Nevertheless, it stands apart due to its innovative use of radiant oranges and gold.
Gemini
Gemini is a proud figure, symbolizing the dichotomy of ordered and abstract sides of an individual’s personality. A radiant golden panel with an opaline grid cast upon its surface extends the length of one side of the work. In contrast, other portions of the body are tinted a cool cerulean blue. The overall affect is a flurry of luminosity and color that actively engage the viewer. Abstract amorphous shapes stretch and merge into each other, creating a landscape of possibility. At 23in. tall Gemini projects a bold shouldered confidence, that is both balanced and complete.
Hibiscus Lapel
The piece Hibiscus Lapel has a dominating presence. Its dimensions are 23in. tall and more than 11in. across. The form mimics the poised lines of a slender, feminine, torso. Precisely colored triangle murrini form a mosaic of flowers falling across the lime green panel in the front of this work.
Lapis Column
At 17 in. in height, Lapis Column, represents another specimen from the breastplate series. It features an acid etched finish and has a conventional frontal inclusion. A unique aspect of the design elements in this piece is that the inclusion is open at the crown. This allows light to filter in behind the fumed cane surface. Lapis blue lines with a lacquer-red stripe rest on the eggshell tint background completing the composition of the central casting.
Lenticular Intarsia
Lenticular Intarsia, of the “Breast Plate” series, stands 18in. tall, 13in. across, and 6in. deep. The anterior mosaic is comprised of opaline squares, fumed with silver to create an opaque iridescence. Both the interior and the base are tinted with a teak colored glass powder. The overall result is a smooth wooden look. From the perspective of the back of the vessel one finds two lenses that have been formed into the surface of the piece. This allows for a unique optical experience as the viewer looks through the vessel.
Primary Italia
This piece, Primary Italia, is an audacious celebration of color. As the viewer’s eye moves around the work vivid red, blue, and yellow panels cast into its surface combine to create a cacophony of secondary color. The opal interior activates the optical quality of the cast glass, while the transparent top captures light, transmitting it throughout the entire composition. This effervescent form is 22in. tall by 13in. wide, with a cylindrical body that terminates in an abstract triangular crest.
Puzzler
The Puzzler was assembled through a unique process of Hot Glass Casting. The piece intuitively combines the look of both water and stone. It was created from glass slabs that were impossibly fused by finely machined joints. Standing 16in. tall and 10in. wide this piece is an abstract landscape of man-made forms. A construction onto itself, the Puzzler’s surface hosts, metropolitan silhouettes, as well the urban sprawl inhabiting the backdrop of our daily lives.
Tecali Spire
I feel that Tecali Spire is truly a landmark piece in the sense of form development. My intent was to shape aspects of the glass that up till now had been over-looked by contemporary artists. While working with this piece I began stretching the glass, thereby giving it a more fluid motion and increased gesticulation. Figurative forms began to appear in my work: torsos, shoulders, folds, and curves. Tecali Spire is one of my largest forms to date, soaring upwards to a height of 31in. It is a simplistic round sculpted vessel colored with a gold-brown base and a bluish opaline that fades up to clear.
