Transforming Tradition: Innovations in Contemporary Glass
Waves of Contemporary Art:
Conclusion
Waves of Contemporary Glass Art is a universal concept that goes beyond the artist vs. craftsman debate. Water is just one of many concepts that contemporary artists are using to their advantage. Looking back to Kerrick Johnson, her disability made it possible to create astounding glass sculptures where boundaries of colors have been pushed. Also, considering that many techniques covered in this topic are traditional, but the way in which these artists approached them were highly different because they incorporated more than techniques; they experimented with tools and other mediums. Boundaries have definitely been pushed, also considering that some parts in glass art community is going through trends, branching off in different direction, and taking their inspiration to a different level of realist abstractionism. Because the innovations within these four topics are those of artists and not within industry, it enables contemporary artists to explore, experiment, and find new inspirations and techniques. This allows them to have free will and create whatever their heart desires. Within these four topics, contemporary glass artists are seeing their work as utilitarian, practical, functional and visual. This realm in the glass community will continue to expand as other glass artists start to enter, giving the art of glass making a whole new face.
Since our topic is solely based on water, it interrelates and connects Culture and Nature, in terms of lava as an inspiration. A very similar concept, but on a different level of the way in which culture regarding the location of these vessels are made and how it shapes the overall glass community. Glassmaking is one art that will never die or cease to exist. From the ancient to present times, glass making will be always a mystery and secret to some. The aesthetics of glass itself is mind blogging because it intrigues the viewer even more. Glass today is treated on a more artisan-appreciative level even though it is a commodity for every day use. Without glass art and constant innovations that push these boundaries beyond the art world, it would be devastating to say in the least that art no matter what medium will always contain a culture and a language.
According the article Sculpting in Glass from Northwestern University perfectly concludes this project as a metaphor; “Glass is a vehicle for personal expression or for broader symbols and ideas and artists engage glass in a dialogue with the past and also with their surroundings”.1 Artists will continue the tradition of the 20th century Studio Glass Movement, and will continue to work with glass in exhilarating ways that sometimes defy expectations of glass as an art medium.
1. "News." 'Sculpting in Glass' Show Highlights Summer Arts Fare: Northwestern University. 14 June 2005. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.