Description

Artist Information:
Kuhn began his artistic career as a ceramist, working with clay. Fashioning vessels of silicate compounds, which changed state and chemical structure when they were subjected to very high heat. During his graduate studies, he began working with molten glass. His earliest sculptures, from the late 1970s, show his roots in clay and the making of containers, but they also moved quickly into new, uncharted territories of expression in which he alternately polished and flattened surfaces or left them rough and etched. In these pieces, the fluidity of molten glass is still apparent in the irregular, flowing contours and rounded masses of the sculptures. Their irregular shapes rough, opaque surfaces suggest naturally occurring minerals, while the colored glass visible behind the window of occasional fragmentary polished surface showcases vibrant colors in a translucent medium, emphasized by the contrasting juxtaposition in combination with the rough and organic exterior, illustrating the inner beauty of nature divulged by the coldworking process. o In early 1980’s, after an injury to his right arm, Kuhn began facing difficulty performing the strenuous motions and heavy lifting required in order to work with molten glass, and a new conceptual element emerged in Kuhn’s artistic vision. Forced to completely depart from the traditional approach to manipulate the medium of glass, Kuhn experimented with transparent sheets of glass in various colors and refractive index, and in 1987 Kuhn created his first cube with a complex and colorful pattern encased in its core; a whole new concept of visual art the likes of which the world has never seen before.
The fragments of different-colored core materials, started out as various types of sheets that are then thoughtfully layered, aligned, cut through, ground, polished, and adhered countless times, to shape an intricate yet vibrant sculpture that contains a mythical pattern with seemingly endless depth. The core material of the piece radiates with energy as it glints and sparkles, encased in a thick layer of clear optical-grade glass that brilliantly enhances, magnifies, and projects the optical effects of the core materials onto the outer surface, making it appear almost ethereal as an explosion of vibrant colors and intense sparkle of brilliance emanates from deep within, reminiscent of a series of intense fireworks illuminating a dark, clear sky that penetrates through the night.
Prior to this, prismatic/geometric glass sculptures were only made from cutting a solid piece of molded crystal or blown glass, and often simplistic in appearance with a limited use of colors, and only small flame-worked objects were able to be encased in glass. Partly due to his injury, as well as technological advancements which led to the development of HXTAL, an industrial adhesive that possess an optical-grade clarity, Kuhn was able to invent the technique of creating geometrically shaped sculptures with mind-blowing optical properties with a sophisticated expressiveness in its presentation. Kuhn’s work has introduced a whole new dimension to the definition of “coldworked glass,” which was limited to sandblasting, carving, or cutting a piece of glass made by lampworking until that point and paved the way for many new artists to create various geometric glass sculptures using the same techniques pioneered by Kuhn.
While the earlier examples of these geometric sculptures showcased primarily the vibrant colors and intricate patterns formed by the core material, the concept of light and energy eventually became central to Kuhn’s work. Each sculpture captures, reflects and refracts ambient light, then projecting it back onto the surface to completely occupy and dominate the surrounding space with intense energy, mesmerizing the viewers and commanding the attention of the entire premise with its glowing presence.