Jane Bruce, Coloured Vase, Bottle, Bowl, 2008
kilnformed and coldworked glass
13 x 24 x 4 inches installed
Photo: Steven Barall
Portland, OR - Bullseye Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibit of the refined, formalist glass sculptures of New York-based artist Jane Bruce. The exhibition, Contained Abstraction, will be on view April 1 – May 17, 2008.
“My work is deeply rooted in the history of the decorative or applied arts and the examination of objects, particularly the vessel,” remarks Bruce. “If I were to pick an adjective to describe my work, it might be 'formal.' I am interested in how composition, colour, light, proportion, and the juxtaposition of positive and negative space work within an object or group of objects. Formal is a term rarely used in the context of the decorative or applied arts, but it is essential in painting and sculp¬ture and is, I believe, equally essential to the object.”
“At the same time I have been working on a series of house forms,” she says, “which explore a more personal concern related to landscape and loss in a particular place, the far northeast of Scotland.” This inspiration stems in large part from her recent tenure as the Artistic and Technical Director of North Lands Creative Glass from 2002 until 2007 in Lybster, Scotland. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, London, Bruce has had an esteemed history as an educator, teaching in Australia, Canada, the US, and Europe. From 1994 to 2004, Bruce served as a lecturer in the Glass Workshop, Canberra School of Art, Australian National University and as Head of Workshop from 2001-2002. Currently, Bruce is the Director of Glass Programming for GlassRoots, Newark, NJ and on the Board of Directors of UrbanGlass, New York, NY. Her art is a part of numerous international collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Corning Museum of Glass, USA, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
In 2005, Bruce shifted her practice away from blown work to focus on kilnformed and hot cast forms, while continuing her investigation of the vessel. Bruce is presently working with the Portland, Oregon fabrication studio, Studio Ramp, to produce these pieces. Of this collaboration, Bruce says, “This way of working has opened up new and unexpected directions in my work not previously possible. It has afforded me with the opportunity to move from one process, blowing, to another, kilnforming, enabling me to expand and develop ideas and content within a body of work unrestricted by technique. It has also provided the time to move from one media, glass, to another, drawing, permitting the development of works on paper that open up and compliment the ideas produced in glass.”
Download: Jane Bruce March 4, 2008