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Thursday February 18, 2021 | by Andrew Page

Christina Bothwell, who rebuilt after fire destroyed her studio, discusses "Luminous Dreams in Cataclysmic Times"

Christina Bothwell, whose ruminations about making it through challenging times were featured in the Spring 2020 edition of Glass (#159, our special "Survival" issue), has unveiled the artworks she's been inspired to create through the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant anxieties and uncertainty that have shaped our tumultuous political and economic times. Bothwell will discuss the new work and what it responds to in real time during a special online conversation Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 5:30 PM (Free with registration via this link). The presentation serves as an opening event for her Heller Gallery exhibition entitled "Luminous Dreams in Cataclysmic Times," which runs through April 3, 2021, and includes works in glass and ceramic, some with their textured surfaces heightened with oil paint.

On the Heller exhibition website, Bothwell explains "Art has always been a form of retreat for me. I view my studio time as an anchor, a compass that orients me toward the things in life that feel good and bring me joy." She will be joined in conversation with Katya Heller and photographer Robin Schwartz, whose friendship with the artist has been a source of ongoing support.

In total, the Heller Gallery features more than a dozen of Bothwell's new works, which bring together the artist's signature interplay between the opaque, weathered look of raku pottery and the luminous glass elements. Her material choices reveal literal and metaphoric interior dimensions to the figures lost in contemplation, dreaming, or some state in between. The work is moody and introspective, shot through with a wistful sense of the passage of time.


IF YOU GO: 

Christina Bothwell
"Luminous Dreams in Cataclysmic Times"
Through April 3, 2021
(Artist talk: Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 5:30 PM (Free with registration)
Heller Gallery
303 Tenth Avenue
New York City
Website



Glass: The UrbanGlass Quarterly, a glossy art magazine published four times a year by UrbanGlass has provided a critical context to the most important artwork being done in the medium of glass for more than 40 years.