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Richard Speer
As a proponent of cross-pollinization in the arts and a sworn enemy of artificial dichotomy (art/craft, conceptual/visceral, highbrow/lowbrow, etc.), I am always gratified to see artists transgressing boundaries as they exploit and transcend the properties inherent in their chosen media. It was, then, most pleasing to witness the gamut of formal and expressive modes blazing forth from the artists who participated in this year's e-merge. In the work of the gold, silver, and bronze prizewinners, we see a microcosm of our current moment across the broad tapestry of contemporary art. Sabine Rosenberger's Stealth B2, which recontextualizes a machine of war as lacy filigree, is technically and thematically ambitious. Ruth Gowell's meticulous yet ebullient Optical Vase demonstrates how the classic vessel form, thoughtfully designed and fastidiously executed, maintains an evergreen visual appeal and, to invoke Whitman, the ability to “please the soul well.” Essi Utriainen's Idyll 2, meanwhile, is a sparkly, crackly little gem that winks at us with a certain post-ironic self-awareness. In these three choices we see three visages: the bravura satirist, the inspired perfectionist, and the impish retro-hipster. Are they regarding us with a glare, a straight face, or an arched eyebrow? Yes.
In this space we jurors were given the option to suggest general advice for e-merge participants and artists at large. Mine would be the following: Allow room for the happy accident; allow no room for sloppy execution; and God grant you the wisdom to know the difference. If you have a choice between making one immaculate work or ten mediocre works, go for the former. Your ideas are only as good as your technique, and your technique is only as good as your ideas. Have your work photographed and photographed well, but not so dramatically that the photo is more striking than the piece itself. Finally, in your work, go where the pain is, and go where the beauty is. Those are the bookends of human experience, and despite the art world's vicissitudes, they will never go out of style.
Richard Speer is a contributing editor for Art, Ltd. and visual arts critic and writer for Willamette Week, the Pulitzer Prize-winning alternative weekly paper in Portland, Oregon. As a critic-at-large for ARTnews, he has reviewed major gallery shows across the United States. His articles, essays, and reviews have appeared in Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Opera News, and GLASS Quarterly. Speer has also written catalogue essays about the work of a number of leading contemporary artists—including artists who work in glass. http://www.richardspeer.com/
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Dante Marioni
I was delighted to be asked to serve as a juror for the e-merge competition this year. I have a genuine love of art made from glass and have always been a big fan of Bullseye and all the company does to further glass and art.
I was excited to view the works of the applicants (knowing there would not be many, if any, glass blowers in the mix), mostly to see what is going on out there. I wasn't disappointed. There are some great pieces this year.
Right away I was intrigued by the work of Sabine Rosenberger. So strange, I thought, to make a sculpture about a B-2 bomber. Seeing it in person I came to realize that this was an object that could have been abstract, though it is not. The social and political implications are myriad, though I believe that was not the artist's intent. In the end, this is simply a beautiful object.
Ruth Gowell offered a technical tour de force with Optical Vase. A great composition meticulously made. A striking piece to see in person.
Essi Utriainen of Finland's piece, Idyll 2, for me evoked memories of the Finnish countryside at midsummer and I found it irresistible, truly original and well executed. I really appreciate its diminutive scale—quiet, contemplative, humble.
Shane Caryl's Bernini's Batman is also amazing. As a glass blower I do not personally possess much technical knowledge about kilncasting, but I am able to recognize this as an incredible work of kilncast glass, as well as a really great likeness of my favorite superhero.
Other works that made a strong impression but did not receive awards were Derise Hemmes' Inheritance 1, Susan Balshor's Auntie and Carmen Vetter's Fading Gray #6, to name just a few.
Overall, participating in the juroring process served to remind me, yet again, that there are a lot of really good artists out there working with Bullseye glass.
Dante Marioni is a Seattle studio artist who, pairing classical blowing techniques and a Modernist Venetian 1920s and 30s aesthetic, crafts contemporary vessels with graceful forms and vibrant colors. His artistry and virtuosity have been recognized with awards from the Tiffany Foundation and the Museum of Arts and Design (USA), and his work is included in major museums and collections in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. Most recently Marioni has experimented with kilnformed glass at Bullseye, designing an Art Deco-influenced chandelier that now hangs in Bullseye Gallery. Click here to see Dante at Bullseye Gallery.
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Jane Bruce
Being asked to judge any competitive exhibition is always a difficult and sometimes a frustrating task, and e-merge proved to be no different. Difficult in that two hundred and eighty-seven applicants, entering one to six artworks each, had to be selected down to just forty finalists. Frustrating in that there were many entries that deserved to be in the final exhibition, but for one reason or another—poor photography, a worthy idea not quite fully realized—failed to make the final cut.
As the juroring progressed the works began to fall naturally into a number of categories: landscape and nature, architecture, artifacts and personal narrative. From Penni Russell's delicate and delightful Seedlings to Sarah Vaughn's Moment of Choice, an ambitious work that seems as if it could grow and take over the world, landscape and nature as reference point was by far the largest category for works submitted.
Many works were also of an architectural scale; however, equally intriguing were works, such as Heath Bradley's Balance, which, whilst referencing architecture and the built environment, worked very successfully as discrete objects.
Sabine Rosenberger's prizewinning Stealth B2 fell into the artifacts category. What could be more emblematic of 20th century contradictions than a weapon of death and destruction rendered in fragile, almost lace-like glass? Also notable were Matthew Perez's bold Striated Application with its sense of being from another time and place, and Michael Hernandez's wonderfully understated Focus.
In the personal narrative area, Susan Balshor's Auntie effectively explores family memory whilst Essi Utriainen's Idyll 2 speaks movingly of domesticity and home. Lastly, I found it disappointing that a category almost completely missing was design and production. Very few artists seem interested in taking on the challenge of exploring and redefining the traditional function of glass as a material for use—an area, I believe, of untapped potential.
Jane Bruce is an independent studio artist and former Artistic Director of North Lands Creative Glass in Scotland. She is known for employing a wide range of methods to create signature vessel forms that are neither functional nor nonfunctional. Her pieces are exhibited internationally and can be found in many permanent collections worldwide—including at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, The Corning Museum of Glass in the US, Museum fur Kunsthandwerk in Germany, and the National Art Glass Collection in Australia.
Click here to see Jane at Bullseye Gallery.
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