Steven Maslach's Contemporary Glass Sculptures
RED LONG BOAT
Glass and steel
42 x 6 / x 6 ½ inches
stevenmaslach.com
whistlerart.com
THE ARTIST: Steven Maslach
THE JOURNEY: “This is my 47th year working with glass. I was in art school on the way to my painting class when I saw glassblowing for the first time, and I was absolutely hooked. At age 20 I got in my truck and drove to visit everybody in the United States who I had heard was making glass, and then I came back and started my studio in 1971.”
ON SCULPTURE: “Glass transforms light and color more than any other material—only ice, plastic and water are similar. But I got to the point where blowing glass was getting predictable. Glass was more interesting to me when it was cast, when it was thick. My new works are light sculpture. They continually change as lighting or the view’s angle changes.”
ABOUT A BOAT: “I grew up sailing on San Francisco Bay, and I moved to the Pacific Northwest largely because of the incredible possibilities for boating up here all the way to Alaska. There’s something about that form of a boat: It appears to be in motion; it represents freedom and journey and transformation. I’m making the spirit of the boat, and its grace is what is attractive.”
THE PROCESS: “Working with molten glass is an extremely physical art. It’s a force of nature: You can control it to a certain extent, but there’s a point when molten glass is just going to do what it wants to do. I take a crucible of molten glass out of my furnace and pour it—the glass is over 2,000 degrees; the mold is about 400 degrees—and the meeting is violent and explosive. When the glass tumbles, there are a variety of currents and flow patterns that become visible.”
EMBRACING CHANGE: “Glass changes, glass is made of light, and it’s just profoundly interesting to work with. I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to work with glass all these years.
ON VIEW: See Steven Maslach’s glass sculptures at the Whistler Contemporary Gallery in Whistler, British Columbia.
