Joanna H. Manousis, Self-Contained Spray, 2007. Blown and kiln-cast glass, hand-painted enamel. H 15 3/4, W 6, D 6 in.
Encapsulated in the familiar form of a spray bottle for cleaning glass — the sort that might hold Windex, for example — is a woman’s face. Stretched and distorted as if refracted by glass to match the contours of the perfectly rendered glass bottle, the woman’s face seems to be slipping away, pulled upside down through the nozzle tip, as if she will be propelled out into the world along with the cleaning solution. With her wide-eyed, vacant gaze, she stares out through the glass in an expression that could be seen as discomfort, boredom, or deep distrust.
The piece, created by artist Joanna H. Manousis and entitled Self-Contained Spray (2007), has been named winner of the first annual Hans Godo Frabel Award. It includes blown glass, cast glass, and hand painted enamel. In a prepared statement, the artist says that the work intends to personify “the idealized portrayal of the 1950s domestic housewife… A ‘perfect’ woman encapsulated within the chamber of a detergent spray can.” But for those involved in the awards process, this piece represents something even more important.
“Mixed media is a very big part of the emerging new wave of glass art going on at the moment,” says Frabel special events manager Cleo Sloan. “Pieces like this are helping glass to move away from being labeled simply as craft.”
Magnum Mangkang, glass sculptor and member of the nomination committee, agrees. “They’re doing great things with mixed media and people really like it,” he says. “It makes a piece of work complete.”
The newly established Frabel Awards is different than other awards in that winners are chosen in an online voting process. While nominees are hand-picked by Mangkang and Hans Godo Frabel himself, winners are determined by public voting. It includes two categories for submission: The Hans Godo Frabel Award, for established glass artists, and the Frabel Novice Award, for newcomers to the field.
Frabel created the award after retiring from teaching classes in his studio, hoping to find a way to give back to the glass community. There is no submission fee, and entrants can submit up to three works for consideration. Entries are submitted electronically in the form of photographs—a unique and challenging circumstance for glass veterans on the nomination committee.
“It’s very difficult to judge a glass piece based on a 2-D photo,” says Mangkang. “Some excellent work may have lost because it wasn’t represented very well with the photos that were submitted.”
From among three pieces in each category, Manousis was selected for a $2,000 cash prize as winner of the Hans Godo Frabel Award, and Maureen McRorie for a $1,000 prize as winner of the Frabel Novice Award, with a flameworked, sculpted, fused, and stained glass piece called The Reef.
“We were looking for artists who really have a voice of their own,” says Mangkang. “I think that’s what we found.”
Information on how to apply for next year’s award is available here.
—Brett Nuckles