Press Releases 2008

New Fall Fellows Arrive

CREATIVE GLASS CENTER OF AMERICA AT WHEATONARTS WELCOMES NEW FELLOWS FOR THE FALL SESSION

MILLVILLE, NJ – Three new Creative Glass Center of America Fellows arrived at WheatonArts in early September. These artists will develop and refine their techniques towards new or expanded work through October 10. This Fellowship program, the only one of its kind in the U.S., provides emerging and mid-career artists unrestricted access to the Glass Studio facilities and materials necessary for blown, cast and kiln-formed glass.

In recent years Vanessa Cutler’s work has explored the relationship of technology and glass. The main area of focus is water jet and the parameters of which it can enable glass to be cut into complex and challenging shapes that question fragility, technique and composition of glass properties and design applications. Her residency at WheatonArts is allowing time away from teaching to further explore the complexities of the material.  The combination of using water jet cut formers and glass will allow me to further push those boundaries of technology and its integration with glass.

Cutler is currently working as a lecturer at Swansea Metropolitan University. Prior to this position she was a research fellow at Sunderland University helping other artists such as Scott Chaseling, Richard Meitner and Jeffrey Sarmeinto to utilize and explore the combination of water jet technology alongside hot glass, print and kiln forming. She completed her Ph.D. in 2006 and has lectured, exhibited, consultancy and published papers on the creative potential of abrasive water jet. She states, “My enjoyment is in making glass look a lot more fragile than it is. Waterjet enables the materials to be manipulated in ways not achievable any other way.”

Joshua DeWall has been working with glass for six years. He started lampworking when he was 18 years old and worked with the torch throughout his senior year of high school. Upon graduation he decided to make working with glass a lifelong commitment. He enrolled at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, under instructor, Che Rhodes. It was there that he learned how to blow glass offhand. Being a part of the energy and teamwork of the hotshop inspired him even more.

When Rhodes left for Kentucky, Jiyong Lee became DeWall’s professor. Che and Jiyong Lee had their own unique strengths, skills, styles and ideas that helped DeWall grow as a glassblower. He credits both instructors in having an impact on his work and help make him a better glass artist. His interests are now in formal glass work rather than in surface decoration. His goal is to further his skills and ideas in glassblowing while continuing to explore and push the limits of the medium.

Ethan Stern earned a BFA from Alfred University in 2001. He currently owns and operates a cold working studio in Seattle, WA. He has been a summer staff member at Pilchuck Glass School for almost a decade. During this time he has also taught glassblowing and cold working at Hilltop Artists in Residence in Tacoma, WA, The Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee and Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. His glass work is represented by Chappell Gallery in New York, NY, and the William Traver Gallery in Seattle and Tacoma.

Stern explains, “Color, texture and form define the objects that I create, and also serve as a visual language used to describe contrast, weight and balance. Each piece is blown with careful consideration to color and scale, creating a vitreous canvas primed for embellishment and composition. Unlike the surface of wet clay, molten glass cannot be manipulated by the swipe of a finger or the touch of a palm. Cutting and engraving the glass after it has cooled is the most direct way for me to contact and alter the material. As glass naturally shines and appears hard and dense, cutting the surface and leaving it unpolished allows it to become rich, soft and tactile. The mark left by each pass of the cutting wheel is a finger print carrying information like the stroke of a paintbrush. Simple shapes and lines composed of these marks overlap to create contrasting patterns, manipulations of light and illusions of depth. Asymmetrical forms lean and bend in ways that appear to be on the brink of falling. This tension creates a meeting ground were stability and fragility collide. While engraving has become my voice, the evidence of the hand, the subtleties of surface and the creative process are all vital to the creation of my work.”

Visiting have the opportunity to see the Fellows demonstrate their special glass techniques during an Open Studio, September 26, at 7 p.m. Admission is free for the general public. Light refreshments will be available.

The CGCA has serviced glass artists and the arts community since 1983. The CGCA offers fellowships to artists working in glass and has serviced glass artists and the arts community for over 20 years. Over 280 professional and emerging artists have been recipients of a CGCA fellowship, representing artists from 25 states and 22 countries. For more information, call the Creative Glass Center of America at WheatonArts at 800-998-4552 or 856-825-6800, extension 106, or visit www.wheatonarts.org.

WheatonArts strives to ensure the accessibility of its exhibitions, events and programs to all persons with disabilities. Provide two weeks notice for special accommodations. Patrons with hearing and speech disabilities may contact WheatonArts through the New Jersey Relay Service (TRS) 800-852-7899 or by dialing 711.

Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. WheatonArts receives general operating support from the New Jersey Historical Commission, Division of Cultural Affairs in the New Jersey Department of State and is supported in part by the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism.

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