Glass sculptor Toots Zynsky. (Photo/CCTV.com)
Famed glass sculptor Toots Zynsky shunned the rapid art of glass blowing for the more contemplative pursuit of fusing glass threads. It's a technique that has won her exhibition at more than 70 museums around the world and a direct commission from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Now, Shanghai's Liuli China Museum is displaying 20 of her works for her first solo exhibition in China.
Zynsky has been exploring the potential of glass for 50 years. Music and dance inspired her to use vibrant colors. The unique interaction of light and color was achieved by a distinctive technique developed by the artist and her friend in 1982.
Known as "filet de verre", the technique allows Zynsky to turn glass rods into optical fiber as thin as threads. The artist created her vessels by first layering thousands of multicolored glass threads.
The threads are then fused inside a kiln and slumped into molds. Temperature, grasp of form, use of color, and placement of glass threads must all be executed to perfection to prevent breakage. It's a test of the artist's experience and skill.
"I think that part of the reason that I developed this technique was because I started with glass blowing, which goes very quickly. So you are always thinking very fast and moving very fast, and once you've done something you really can't go back," said Toots Zynsky, Glass Artist.
And over the years I wanted more and more time to contemplate more carefully and thoughtfully and with more tranquility with the work I was making and how I wanted to express myself,"Zynsky continued.
"Zynsky skillfully manipulates glass threads. After shaping molds at a high temperature, the threads are chaotically fused, but they aren't out of control. She is able to present random glass threads in artistic patterns. It's really a perfect combination of skill and artistic expression," said Loretta H. Yang, Glass Artist.
Zynsky is the first contemporary glass artist to have a piece directly commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her works have been collected by more than 70 museums around the world.
