This series began during my time at Swarthmore College when I introduced magnets into my studio to solve a hanging problem. As with many things, I found another way to use these magnets in my practice: to connect forms through glass. My first piece was a tulip that passes through the side of a clear glass vase. From this piece grew many investigations of both animals and plants passing through various glass objects and panels. These magnetic sculptures have a complicated relationship with their containers for they appear to both be breaking through them while remaining in some ways trapped. This paradox is what I call the 'moment of thaw.' The glass becomes like ice thawing, and the sculpture is emerging in that initial moment of change.
Octopus
Mixed-media sculpture, magnets, glass bell jar
22in x 20in x 18in
2012
Other pieces in this series: