Bullseye Resource Center Bay Area is pleased to present Material Language, a group exhibition that explores the textural language of kiln-glass.
Through casting and kilnforming, glass can take on a myriad of forms that go well beyond the smooth, glossy surfaces we interact with every day. The artists included in Material Language combine fine glass powder, course frit, sheet glass, and billet with heat to create sculptural works that are reminiscent of folded paper, geologic formations, cracked concrete, and the markings of animals. Nisha Bansil is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer whose glass work – cast from folded paper – is based on observation of the environment. Joseph Harrington, similarly, draws from the landscape using a unique process called “lost ice.” Nathan Sandberg looks to the markings and imperfections found around the city. Subtle textures in concrete or at transit stations delineate movement and reveal histories of use. Amanda Simmons uses glass powders to generate patterns drawn from the plumage of birds for her series of shallow vessel forms.
Nisha Bansil received a BFA in Printmaking from the State University of New York, New Paltz in 2001. In 2011, she was an artist-in-residence, along with Dan Mirer, at the Corning Museum of Glass. In 2016, Bansil was an artist-in-residence at the Bullseye Resource Center New York. She lives and works in New York.
Joseph Harrington received degrees from Buckinghamshire New University and the Royal College of Art. Harrington was a finalist for the 2006 Bombay Sapphire Prize, and a shortlisted finalist at the 2006 International Festival of Glass. His work can be found in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Nathan Sandberg holds a BFA in Glass and Ceramics from the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Sandberg teaches workshops around the world and maintains a studio in Portland, Oregon.
Amanda Simmons worked as a clinical perfusionist before devoting herself to her studio practice full-time. With a degree from Central Saint Martins, London, Simmons has exhibited at SOFA Chicago and COLLECT. Simmons was a finalist in Bullseye’s Emerge competition.