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Email PageCorallum
January 11, 2008- February 9, 2008
Reception: January 17, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Kait Rhoads
Chappell Gallery
526 W 26th St Kait Rhoads Rainbow Noir |  Kait Rhoads Amber Nut |  Kait Rhoads Seanut |
I began my career in painting, but as I studied ancient glass techniques, I came to see the transparency and vibrant colors of glass as a more compelling canvas for complex design. My inspiration is a reverence for nature, in part influenced by spending much of my childhood on a sailboat in the Bahamas and Caribbean. Assisting my mother in her diving business, I became fascinated with the structure and design of underwater plants and animals – particularly the amazing varied phyla of coral. Today, my own diving refreshes my love of this underwater world.
In the Peacock Vessels patterns, I use traditional Italian patterning techniques of zanfirico cane and murrine. to render natural imagery such as feathers, blossoms, seaweed, and coral. ( A cane is a pre-formed rod of colored glass that can be “picked up” and incorporated into a larger form. Zanfirico refers to a spiral pattern created by making a solid glass cylinder with cane on the surface and then rotating each end of the pull as the cane is stretched. Murrine are pieces of cane cut into slices.) The surface engraving of recent vessels creates even greater visual depth.
In the Soft Sculptures series I use hollow glass hexagonal shaped murrine to describe the boundary of sculptural forms. Interlocking seamlessly, the murrine resemble the cellular structure of coral colonies .The labor-intensive process for these pieces requires a steel hexagon-shaped mold, into which I blow different colored glass bubbles and pull them out into a hollow rod shape. These rods are annealed, and then carefully cut into small, beadlike pieces. Finally, the beads are kiln heated to soften their edges. This step tapers them slightly, making it possible to create a flowing curve as I weave them together with copper wire.
In the Wall Panels, I strive to create dynamic forms that bring life to a flat surface – sea, sky and the flora found in these realms. The initial process is similar to that of the patterned blown vessels, resulting in a cylindrical bell jar shape, from which the top is then sliced off. The remaining cylinder is cut and slumped flat, then water-jet cut into the desired shape. With the flower shapes, I also fire-polish each piece, slump them for a slight curve, and prepare them for mounting hardware.
The fluid nature of the created line illustrates how obstacles can inhibit or enhance movement; this aspect of melting and mingling of colors infuses each piece with rhythmic movement and organic growth.
- Kait Rhoads, December 2007
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Chappell Gallery was last updated: 2008-10-15
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