Jiri Harcuba, Salvador Dali, 2008
fused and engraved glass, 16.125 x 16.125 x .25 inches
April Surgent, Crossing Eurobodalla, 2008
fused and cameo-engraved glass, 14.375 x 10 x 2.25 inches installed
Photos: P. Leonard
Portland, OR - Bullseye Gallery is pleased to present the work of up-and-coming American artist April Surgent and Czech engraving master Jiri Harcuba. Their pieces, which developed out of an exciting joint residency, will be exhibited from October 7 – November 22, 2008 in Traces of Ourselves.
“Life is a dialog,” proclaims Harcuba, a “dialog with oneself as well as others.” Through engraving, Harcuba stretches this dialog across history to connect the present with the noted historical figures he portrays, his influences from philosophy and the arts. “All my ancestors worked with glass,” he explains, “I am showing [the] relationship of prehistoric carving and contemporary art. We are the link between the past and the future.” While history may offer insight into the present, Harcuba acknowledges that there is still a great deal of extraneous information to wade through in the search for truth and inspiration. “To be able not to know is the biggest art of all,” he remarks. “The task of a teacher is […] to discover the worthful. The role of the school is to draw near history, to discover it’s greatest treasures and find inspirations for contemporary creativity.” Fittingly, through his art, Harcuba ends up committing himself to this same historical record that he depicts. “By engraving, we leave traces,” he notes, “traces of ourselves.
Having refined her technique in glass engraving under Harcuba, April Surgent has focused her own art clearly on the contemporary realities of travel and culture. “In a day and age when travel has become a commodity,” says Surgent, “our exposure to different cultures and places is changing our identities, morals, beliefs and art.” Yet even as she looks outward, her pieces remain very personal. As she explains, “My work is both a record and reaction to our global communities and life as I experience it. [I keep] in mind that everything is only as I perceive it to be, yet nothing is as it appears. [I question] the way that I see and understand myself through my surroundings. I capture what I have discovered to tell silent stories of contemporary life.”
Jiri Harcuba was born in Harrachov, in what is now the Czech Republic, where he apprenticed in the region’s renowned engraving studios, developing his hand at portrait engraving and medallions. In addition to founding the Dominik Biman School, a traveling glass studio dedicated to teaching traditional glass techniques, Harcuba has taught around the world at institutions including the Pilchuck Glass School, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Royal Academy of Art in London, and the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. He is the recipient of the 1995 Rakow Commission from the Corning Museum of Glass and Lifetime Achievement Awards from UrbanGlass and the Glass Art Society.
April Surgent has studied glass in Denmark, the United States, and Australia, where she graduated with honors from Australian National University’s School of Art in Canberra. In 2003, Surgent received a scholarship to Pilchuck Glass School to learn cold-working and traditional cameo-engraving techniques from Jiri Harcuba. Her work was a Director’s Corner Selection for the e-merge 2004 competition and is featured in the collection of the Chrysler Museum of Art.
Download: Jiri Harcuba and April Surgent September 10, 2008
- Traces of Ourselves Jiri Harcuba & April Surgent
October07 - November22 2008
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