Curtiss Brock's
|
|
|
|
| Medium(s): |
Sculpture - Glass
|
Price Range: $300 - $4,000
Bio
Since 1996, Curt has also designed and produced a limited addition line of production work under the studio name CB Glass. He has exhibited this work in the top retail craft shows in the nation. This has enabled him to integrate the ideas, concerns, and considerations surrounding a small production company into his teaching curriculum. He knew that in order to do this well, he would have to teach from a first hand experience. While continuing to develop his glass program at the Craft Center, he has also more recently completely renovated an old 1929 two-room school house into his permanent residence where he lives. His most recent passion/ obsession is trying to mold Shau Bau, a smooth coated collie he acquired from the local animal shelter, into what he hopes will be an obedience trained, championship show dog.
It is obvious that from all of this, Curt Brock is deeply committed to teaching while at the same time continuing to push his own personal, artistic work. This combination gives the students access to a passionate and dynamic person, as well as caring and patient teacher.
Style
An established glass artist with work in over 25 museum collections around the world, Curtiss Brock founded CB Glass as a vehicle for developing limited edition blown glass pieces that focus on function and the originality of design. He challenges himself as a craftsman and a designer to create affordable yet beautiful unique pieces.
His work is divided into two main groups. As Curtiss Brock, he makes one-of-a-kind handblown or cast glass pieces in three different series, the Geode/Fragment series, the Stone Vessel series, and the Stone Groupings series. As CB Glas,s he makes limited edition production handblown vessels.
In the Stone Vessel series, I try to create a tranquil mood through simplicity while still building tension. The exterior of the glass forms resembles stone, and the tension is created by placing saw cuts in the sides and shearing off the tops, revealing the colors and layers of the glass body. The cuts are carefully placed according to the shadows of light they cast. The cuts also seem like scars left by the hot working and cold working processes. They deny the traditional role of glass as containers, capable only of holding fluids. The real purpose of these pieces is visual stimulus and experience.
The Stone Groupings series is focused more on natural forms and their interdependency. My aim is not to reproduce nature, but to draw from the colors, textures and forms of nature. In these pieces, he usse handblown opalescent glass to create work that looks like solid stones. When light passes through them, they emit an unexpected glow that reveals their transparency.
In the mid 1990s, I became interested in developing a range of limited edition hand blown vessels focusing on function, simplicity and beauty, and formed CB Glass to separate this work from my one-of-a-kind pieces. Most of my one-of-a-kind work requires such an investment of time that I can't even afford to own it myself. I did not want people to have to take out a second mortgage on their house just because they fell in love with a piece of glass. This challenged me to apply my skills as both a craftsmen and designer to produce glass vessels that are more affordable while still being beautiful and unique objects.
The way light and glass interact with one another has always interested me, therefore many of my pieces change color or cast beautiful shadows when placed in direct light. I try to work directly with the interaction between light and manipulated glass that causes shadows as beautiful forms themselves.
Some of my vessels use opalescent glass, often with flakes of color like confetti falling through the air. Normally, opaque glass has a heavy and solid feeling to it. I was fascinated by the challenge of working with opal glass and still maintaining a light and airy quality.
Artist Statement
“When there’s smoke, there’s fire, and where there’s fire, there is potential for glass. Where there is glass, there is light. Where glass and light meet, you may find magic.�
- Curtiss Brock
I want people to surround themselves with beautiful objects and it is my job to try and create one.
Rocks and minerals can be seen as the clock that dates the earth itself. They preserve the footprints of life's struggle and its evolution. Sedimentary rocks provided us with the necessary information to recognize and understand our planet's age and history. They are the concrete evidence of things far more powerful and enduring than we are. The pieces in the Geode/Fragment series are markings of my own personal journey and my attempt to leave behind an object of beauty and mystery much in the same way that nature does.
Every industry is directly or indirectly dependent upon our planet's mineral resources. We have grown so accustomed to this gift that many take it for granted. Man's dependence upon fossil fuels is greater than ever before. Even in a modern technological society we are facing a time when we must consider the implications of this dependence. These works represent a simple attempt to make people stop and appreciate the great power and mystery of our planet and its resources.
Much art glass today relies heavily on the brilliance and sparkle of the material as the artist's final objective. I am much more interested in exploring the inherent physical properties of glass without relying solely on its seductive beauty.
Awards
AWARDS
“Vessels� The International Exhibition
of Glass Koganezaki Glass
Museum, Japan Honorable Mention 1999
Gallery Mesa , Artists’ Using Language Most Cohesive Body of Work 1996
Magic City Art Connection,
Presidents Award 1995
International Glass Symposium Invited Participant 1992
Ukraine, Russia
International Glass Symposium Invited Participant 1991
Novibor, Czechoslovakia
Countdown 2001
Best of Show 1991
Southern Arts Federation N.E.A.
Individual Arts Fellowship 1989
Tennessee Arts Commission
Individual Arts Fellowship 1989
World Glass Now
Shimonoseki Museum Prize 1988
Tennessee Arts League Katzman/Wertham Sculpture Prize 1988
Capitol Glass Competition
Best of Show 1987
Feet of Glass First Prize 1986
Michigan Glass First Prize 1986
Museum Collections
American Craft Museum, New York, NY
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA
Crystalex Factory Collection, Novibor, Czechoslovakia
Cincinnati Museum of Art Collection, Cincinnati, OH
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
Corning Museum, Corning, NY
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI
Koganezaki Glass Museum Shizuoka Japan
Muskegon Museum of Fine Art, Muskegon, MI
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
St. Louis Museum of Art, St. Louis, MO
Musee des Arts Decoratifs Switzerland
Musee de Design et d’Arts Appliques/ Contemporains Lausanne, Paris, France
Shimonoseke Art Museum, Yamaguchi, Japan
Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan
Modern International Museum of Glass, Ebeltoft, Denmark
J. B. Speed Museum, Louisville, KY
Brooks Museum, Memphis, TN
Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, WI
Gulf Coast Art Museum,Bellair, FL
Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN
Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
|
|
|
