Portland, OR – Bullseye Projects presents an exhibition examining materiality and process. Break, Mend, Fold features work by Marzena Krzemińska–Baluch and Matthew Day Perez, and will be on view February 7 – April 28, 2018.
Glass breaks. It shatters, cracks, and chips, but with heat it can reform, mend, flow, and fold. Artists Marzena Krzemińska–Baluch and Matthew Day Perez explore the mutability of glass through wall-based sculptures and abstract, textural panels. Krzemińska–Baluch’s The Style 3 (2017) is comprised of a rectangular metal frame upon which a sheet of opaque, white glass is delicately folded in a gesture reminiscent of fabric. It is glass in a form rarely seen, calling into question our understanding of the material. Alternatively, in Meander 3 (2017), Perez utilizes the known fragility of glass by purposefully breaking sheets of glass and fusing them together to emphasize the cracks. The cracks become lines in vast compositions that recall topographical maps of rivers and tributaries. Both artists use a keen understanding of material, heat, and gravity to manipulate sheet glass, creating works that push the boundaries of the material.
Marzena Krzemińska–Baluch graduated from The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland. She has received numerous grants and awards, including: The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Grant, the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Marshal’s Artistic Scholarship, and Highly Commended in The Glass Prize competition. In 2011, she was an Emerging Artist in Residence at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. In 2016, Krzemińska–Baluch was the Silver Award winner in Bullseye Glass Company’s biennial Emerge competition.
Matthew Day Perez was a finalist in Bullseye Glass Company’s biennial Emerge competition in 2008 and 2010. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, the National Endowment for the Arts Renna Arts Scholarship, a U.S. Department of State Grant for new works, a Lois Roth Endowment Award, as well as residencies at Corning Museum of Glass, Creative Glass Center of America, Pilchuck Glass School, and Bullseye Glass Company. He has lectured at several academic and creative institutions both domestically and abroad, and has participated in numerous exhibitions in the United States, Australia, Asia, and New Zealand.
