Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Amber Cowan’s Recent Glass Assemblages

Similar to collage, Amber Cowan remixes and combines vintage glass pieces by "flameworking, blowing, and hot-sculpting" them into new creations. In her recent work, pieces that span centuries combine for intricate, mythological works. Cowan was last featured on HiFructose.com here.

Similar to collage, Amber Cowan remixes and combines vintage glass pieces by “flameworking, blowing, and hot-sculpting” them into new creations. In her recent work, pieces that span centuries combine for intricate, mythological works. Cowan was last featured on HiFructose.com here.



“[Her] work asks universal questions about rebirth, knowledge, desire and the transformative powers of labor and imagination,” a recent statement says. Her pieces are made by re-working pressed glassware produced by some of the best known, but now-defunct, American glass factories. Simultaneously patriotic and subversive, Cowan’s objects explore the texture of material seduction and recount the history of US glass manufacturing; tracinging its rise, glory and demise and its influence on society.”

See more of her recent work below.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
What makes the ordinary extraordinary? This is a question that Philadelphia based artist Amber Cowan continues to ask in her incredible sculptures made out of recycled pressed glass. Previously featured her on our blog, her delicate and exquisite works incorporate objects like candy dishes and tea cups that Cowan has salvaged from thrift stores, smashed up, and then re-fired into intricate designs and scenery. Many of these objects are vintage pieces produced by some of the best known, but now-defunct, American glass factories, making her art both a renewal and preservation of a piece of American history.
Self-taught Scottish artist Pinkie Maclure crafts stained glass works tackling contemporary themes while acknowledging the form's history. The artist recently won the Zealous Emerge Craft Prize for her work, described as reinventing “a medieval art form to question the modern world, through darkly humorous stories and wryly observed imagery.”
Alex Ubatuba’s glass “Living Light Sculptures” series recalls both real-life bioluminescent organisms and otherworldly flora and fauna. The glass artist has been developing this specific set of works over the last few years. This surprisingly calming work has found its way at major shows and art fairs, Burning Man, and beyond.
The art of glassblowing is a demanding and unforgiving process, and even with today's modernized equipment, molding the hot liquid glass can be very dangerous. Indiana based artist Kiva Ford appreciates these qualities of the ancient medium, an art form that he says forces the artist to remain in the present. He sculpts in glass every day, almost obsessively, creating miniatures of things like flowers, animals and geometric forms that he traps in a "ship in the bottle" style bubble or orb.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List