A Fragile Affair

For the past couple months I've been primarily preoccupied with this sculpture and I can happily report I am nearly finished! My blood, sweat, and tears are in this piece, it has been a grueling and emotional adventure that I think was worth it. I hesitate to say it was because of everything I sacrificed for it, there was a time when it made me miserable. Alas, it is over with. I submitted it to "Transcendence - the Magic of Glass", an exhibition in September at the Museum and Arts Center in Sequim, WA. I hear back later this month.

The cannon is one sculpture in a series of stained glass weapons I'm creating. What began as an exploration fueled by my fascination with guns has expanded to include iconic arms from early civil war up until the twenty first century. Using the medium of stained glass to depict these loaded images offers a distinct visual contrast between the delicate, fragile tendencies of glass compared with the omnipotent weapon. Specifically in the United States there is a widespread, gun-crazed culture that developed from a long historical tie to weapons. This country was practically founded on the basis of artillery and continues to hold fast to our second amendment, the right to bear arms. The medium of stained glass has been explored very little in terms of sculptural fine art. It is a material that is laden with its own history and references that is hard to escape. In its religious context, stained glass is a symbol for the transmission of knowledge or truth. Glass, in the context as I have used it, glorifies the weapon, posing questions as to why we still succumb to the seductive power of these destructive machines.