Glass Half Full

 by Saxon Henry 

Since revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement, DaleChihuly has continually pushed to new heights and experimented with new forms,creating blown glass artistry that enhances indoor and outdoor environments.His works are synonymous with drenching color.

SH: Have you always been fascinated with color?

DC: No, there was a period in the 70s and 80s when I usedsubtle color, but I had run out of new colors in the palette I was working withand decided to use bright colors. I have ever since.

SH: How did you choose glass as your medium?

DC: That’s a difficult question to answer.  If I think way back, I remember stainedglass windows in a church I went to as kid; they fascinated me. I also combedthe beach when I was a boy for Japanese glass fishing floats—it was thrillingto find them, but it wasn’t until I was taking a course at the University ofWashington in 1962 that I saw the first clear indication of my fascination withglass as an adult. The teacher told us to put something unusual into a weavingthat we were all making and I chose glass that I had fused to a copper wire.

SH: Did you know you would be an artist when you were young?

DC: My mother tells me that I liked to sit on the floor anddraw when I was a kid, but I wasn’t a very serious student, especially in highschool—I lost my father and my only sibling during that time, so I was prettydistracted. It wasn’t until halfway through college that my desire to really dosomething kicked in during a trip to Europe. I came back a changed person whowas determined to do something with my life.

SH: What launched your career as a dynamic glass artist?

DC: I started the glass program at the Rhode Island Schoolof Design; then I started the Pilchuck Glass School north of Seattle, whichbecame known as one of the most recognizable glass schools in the world. Now,there are more glassblowers in Seattle than there are in Venice.

SH: How do you explain the excitement that your works create?

DC: The color is a very important part of it, but it couldalso be the scale of the works I create. I think people are excited becausethey are often looking at things they’ve never seen before.

SH: Is there a challenge you have not yet met that you dreamof fulfilling?

DC: I’ve thought about what it would be like to design myown building and then do an installation in it.

SH: Is there an upcoming project that excites you?

DC: I’m doing a large project at the new Atlantis Hotel inDubai. I think it’s going to be stunning.

SH: Do you design installations differently when they aregoing to be outdoors?

DC: Indoor works are usually shown in a very neutral spacewhere all of the emphasis is on the pieces. Outside, the work has to respond tothe exotic plants and the colors that it is set within so I must pay attentionto the setting when I’m designing. I’ve been doing installations in naturalsettings for about five years now and I like them very much.

SH: You seem to be quite in-demand at the moment. Has therhythm of your work become less challenging or more so given that you areproducing so much?

DC: Though we are producing a lot of glass, I am doing about50 installations and eight exhibitions a year now, I feel like the work becomesmore innate the more I do it.