Aspen Arts-Glass Art by Steffen Dam

June 24, 2008

Pismo Gallery at Aspen

PISMO Gallery at Aspen Presents Danish Glass Artist Steffen Dam “The Two Faces of Steffen Dam”

PISMO Gallery at Aspen, Aspen’s foremost gallery for glass art, will present a solo exhibition of new works by Steffen Dam, a significant figure in the Danish glass movement. The show opens with a public reception on July 3, 2008 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and the exhibition will continue through July 31, 2008.

Steffen Dam creates two distinct bodies of work. The first is a series of bowls and plates which are blown and then drilled, forming holes in the surface. Through these pieces, Steffen explores the fundamental qualities of glass: transparency and the ability to collect and bend light. The pieces provide magnificent patterns as light penetrates through the precisely drilled surface of the vessel. According to Steffen, “As these have progressed, the objects have become more air than glass.”

In defining Steffen’s second body of work he says, “I set the established and traditional techniques aside and started making glass all “wrong” in an attempt to capture the good in the bad. Out of these experiments came the “Fossil”, “Plants”, and other objects - like frozen extracts of chaos to be watched undisturbed.” With his “Botanical Series” it is as if the plants or organisms are frozen in time.

Although the two bodies are distinctively different, Steffen says, “These two sides of my work, the accurate and the free expression, could be interpreted as a contradiction but they are not. Each side feeds off the other; the accurate work is the foundation for the free expression - and vice versa.”

About PISMO Fine Art Glass: PISMO Fine Art Glass opened its doors in Denver in 1990 as a mixed media gallery, and switched exclusively to glass in 1995. Owner Sandy Sardella also operates other PISMO galleries in Beaver Creek and Vail as well as Aspen. The PISMO galleries are recognized internationally for the breadth and depth of their collection, offering a variety of pieces in all price ranges to suit everyone from the casual admirer to the serious collector. Their web site can be found at http://www.pismoglass.com/.

Written by debbie · Filed Under Arts

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