Over the span of two years I sketched, designed, and created this body of work. From the title of the show, “STARLIGHT,” one might come to the conclusion that inspiration was drawn from the cosmos. It very much was, but it was also drawn from the way that light refracts and interacts with glass, specifically faceted glass and opaque black glass.
When direct light hits faceted glass, a myriad of star-like refractions are cast, as pictured in the photographic images created for the show. This interaction of light and glass always feels like a magical moment, a treat for the ones who take the time to notice, just like when we look up at the night sky.
Everything we know about stars comes from light that has traveled, shifted, and degraded over time. This collection relies heavily on the use of opaque black glass to mimic the blocked light that astrophysics relies on to generate understanding.
In contemporary astrophysics, darkness is not metaphorical. Dark matter and dark energy are empirically inferred through gravitational effects, lensing, and expansion rates. They cannot be seen, only measured by their influence on visible matter. Black glass functions similarly: it is not empty space but material opacity that exerts visual and structural force.
The negative space created with the black glass forces the viewer to notice the colored pieces of glass. It makes your eye travel around the piece, taking stock of every moving line and static shape. Just as we connect dots, or rather stars, to denote constellations, I designed the larger panels in the collection as their own specific star clusters plucked right from the night sky — but the night sky that lives in my head. None of the galaxies or star clusters in this collection are based off of actual constellations, but, they *are* based off of people in my life.
The titles of the pieces contain a mix of letters and numbers, just as astronomers classify found objects and galaxies in the sky. When titling the work, I wanted to add a secret message that only myself and the close people in my life would know. The letter identifies their first name and the numbers that follow are either their birth month and day, or birth month and year. This small gesture would be easily looked over by those who do not know, but for me, it honors the people who make up my universe.
One person in my universe in particular that I’d like to highlight is my partner, Jordan. Every panel in this collection contains a handblown glass component that he created in the hot glass studio. I told him my vision and the colors and refractions I was seeking and he was able to produce just that. The piece titled “Event Horizon” was inspired by a black hole. I asked him if it were possible to make an opaque black form with a white ring surrounding it. This white ring represents the event horizon of a black hole, which is the theoretical, invisible boundary surrounding a black hole — often termed the “point of no return” - beyond which the gravitational pull is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape. Needless to say he was able to achieve my vision. That piece is composed of one large, spun out piece of blown glass.
Jordan and I also worked together to make the lamp forms. These objects were blown in the hot glass studio as well. The molten glass was shaped into a bubble and then using an array of hand tools, the forms were manipulated to have craters, crevices, and fragments. A dusting of black powdered glass was added to coat the exterior to give color and texture. When turned off, the meteor forms look like solid rock — but once illuminated, they show a scattering of little dots from the powdered glass, and hints of the other colors used in the process. I wanted to create these forms as a nod to moon rocks and other space materials that scientists use to study our universe.
I hope when you look at this body of work your eye moves around the pieces and enjoys the pockets of color, scattering of refractions, and the different types of glass used to create these pieces of my universe.
(Photos coming soon)