Corning Museum of Glass artist residencies finalized for 2012

Slow Motion Water, Marta RamÍrez, photo courtesy: corning museum of glass

The Corning Museum of Glass has chosen seven artists in residents for 2012. Ingalena Klenell, Marta Ramirez, Laura Donefer, Jeff Mack, Anna Boothe, Nancy Cohen, Joanna Manousis, Andrew Erdos, and Charles Stern will be experimenting with new techniques and subjects while in residency as well as participating in “lunchtime lectures” where they will describe their artistic inspirations and work. “Our residency program enables artists to focus on exploring their creative ideas and expanding their technical repertoire without concerns outside the studio,” said studio director Amy Schwartz in a prepared statement.

The artist in residence for May is Swedish artist Ingalena Klenell. She explores the ideas of vulnerability and fragility in her work. Klenell views glass as a way to investigate the limits of technique and of her own skill and creativity. Her work is primarily sculptural, concentrating on ways to transcend the limits. In her residency at the studio she will be working on a project titled “Travelers.” This project will focus on the cultural exchange of trade relations between Venice and Egypt, inspired by a collection of glass shards discovered in Egypt that date back to 1100 A.D. to 1400 A.D.

The second artist in residence for May is Marta Ramirez. Ramirez is a glass artist as well as an industrial designer and teacher at Los Andes University in Bogota, Columbia. Her work is inspired by water and she explores the similarities between this element and the material of glass through her art. “Water is movement, transparency, gravity, freefall. Water curls and zigzags” says Ramirez. “Glass does too.” In Ramirez’s residency at the studio she will interpret the work of Japanese artist and photographer Shinichi Maruyama. These works use a camera to capture frozen images of moving water and Ramirez will attempt to recreate the static movement of flowing water. Ramirez and Klenell with host a joint lunchtime lecture that will take place on May 17th.

Delicate wall sconces by Jeff Mack, artist in residence at the Corning Museum of Glass in September.

For the month of September two teams of artist duos will participate in a collaborative instructor residency. Laura Donefer and Jeff Mack will copy classic vessels in the Corning Museum’s collection with a twist, loading them with texture. Donefer is a Canadian artist best known for her colorful mixed media work that pushes the boundaries of glass making. Jeff Mack, studio manager at the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art, is a glassblower and instructor whose work exemplifies more traditional techniques.

The second collaborative residency for September consists of Anna Boothe and Nancy Cohen. Boothe is known for her kiln-cast glass into which she often incorporates fabricated metal and found objects. Her recent work consists of cast-glass forms that are made into sculpture or woven into flat, rug-like structures. Common themes found in her work are issues of balance, communication, compassion and the internal v.s. the external. Cohen’s work consists of multimedia—handmade paper, resin, found objects and most recently glass. She chooses a basic form and uses it repetitively to transform the object into rays and morphed forms. During the residency, Boothe and Cohen will create a floor or wall installation inspired by historical textile. Both artists will translate symbols into three-dimensional forms to create a visual interpretation of tapestry.

Joanna Manousis will be the artist in residence for October. She is an award-winning glass artist known for her kiln-casted glass and blown sculpture. She uses the reflective quality of glass to capture and animate transitional moments, revealing a world where objects, being and places are interconnected. During her residency in October, Manousis will be creating a series of blown molded forms in clear glass with thin layers of pâte de verre blown into the surfaces. Her lunchtime lecture will be on October 25.

The two artists in residence for November include Andrew Erdos and Charles Stern. Erdos’s work is pop, sarcastic, and humorous. He often touches on social commentary.“I like taking objects that we are comfortable with—like a human’s reaction to animals—and exploring how we interact with them,” he said. “In my work, there is a complex series of relationships happening; I am trying to explore all the possible caveats of an idea.” Erdos uses a variety of media including video, sound, sculpture and performance to explore the clash of culture, technology and nature. In his November residency at the studio he will be working a on a series of mirrored, blown-glass animals combined with other new media elements.

Charles Stern’s work emphasizes the decline of glass manufacture in western nations. He uses digital technology in order to “problematise the role of hand craft in the post-industrial environment.” In his residency at the studio, Stern will create an interactive installation that acts as a bridge between the applied knowledge involved in glassblowing and the archive of the museum. Both artists’ lunchtime lectures will be held on November 27. All lectures will take place at the Studio Lecture Room at noon.

—Suzann Caputo