Monday, March 13, 2017 7:30 PM Scottsdale Ranch Clubhouse 10585 N. 100th St. Scottsdale, AZ
On Monday evening Arizona Glass Alliance will very proudly host a presentation by one of the true icons of the studio glass movement, Toots Zynsky. Toots, whose work is instantly recognized around the world, developed the use of filet de verre (glass threads) to create her wonderful sculptures. In fact, she co-developed the unique glass thread pulling machine that she uses today in a process which references the way in which glass optical fibers are produced.
Toots is inspired by music that for her translates into the colors that appear in her vessels, which are unique explorations of color weaving together traditions of painting and sculpture. Toot’s distinctive, undulating forms were previously largely multi-color, but currently her works are largely monochromatic and focused on new forms.
To quote Tina Oldknow, former curator of the Corning Museum: “She {Toots} is one of a small, core group of pioneering artists who made contemporary glass a worldwide phenomenon, and her distinctive kiln formed vessels enjoy widespread popularity for their often magnificent, and always unique, explorations in color.”
You will find Toots’ work in over 70 museums around the world, including such famous names as Corning, the Smithsonian, San Francisco, Detroit, the Metropolitan, Boston, Philadelphia and the Louvre. Toots was an early winner of the Rakow Award from Corning as well as the 2015 recipient of the Smithsonian Visionary Award. In 2016 Toots was the third glass artist ever selected for the Specialty Glass Residency Program offered by the Corning Museum of Glass and Corning Incorporated. An image of one of Toots’ current sculptures, “Vortice”, is shown below, and to learn more about her please visit her website: tootszynsky.org.
