Jamie Harris at the bench at UrbanGlass, Brooklyn.
GLASS: What are you working on?
Jamie Harris: I’m in the middle of finishing my new “Infusion” series of solid-sculpted kiln-cast sculptures for SOFA CHICAGO. I started experimenting on these pieces two years ago during a residency at the Corning Museum of Glass as I began developing a way to combine my love of the Italian blowing technique of incalmo with my interest in painterly abstraction. In much of my work I obsess over multiple levels of technique, and these pieces are a direct outcome from that fascination. The pieces start as multiple blown bubbles, overlaid over solid glass and then banded, incalmo-style, and shaped in the hot-shop; the resulting “billet” is then kiln-cast and then cold-worked and polished. (I tend to be drawn aesthetically towards processes that are labor-intensive and difficult—I wish it weren’t so!)
Although I’ve been interested by this series for a while, I don’t think the work started to feel resolved until this summer, when I started casting these pieces thicker and heavier, setting them onto simple stainless steel bases as freestanding sculpture–the massive thickness of the glass magnifies the subtle gradation of colors and the flowing movement of the molten glass. I showed this new work for the first time this summer at Glass Weekend at Wheaton Arts, and had a really positive response, so I’m busy trying to build a larger collection and flesh out a bunch of different designs as I experiment with different ideas about colors.
Jamie Harris, Infusion Block in Amber, Blue, and Ruby, 2009. H 15 1/2, W 15, D 4 in. Blown and hot-worked glass, kiln-cast and cold-worked, with stainless steel base. photo: d james dee
GLASS: What artwork have you seen recently that inspired you?
Jamie: This new “Infusion” series owes an obvious debt to Studio Glass (the work of Harvey Littleton, in particular), but I tend to look more towards painting for inspiration. The work of Mark Rothko has been a constant inspiration, and so much of my fascination with the Incalmo technique comes from how it offers visual correspondences to Rothko’s central design effect. Recently, I’ve been looking at a lot of Pierre Bonnard, ever since the big winter show at the Metropolitan Museum. He’s one of my favorite painters—so bright and sensual, and with such distinctive tones to his colors. Every couple of months I try to throw myself into a different vein with my work, changing the feeling of the work, and I’ve been spending a lot of time recently studying color effects in Bonnard’s work and letting that influence this new series.
GLASS: Where is it possible to see your work on exhibit?
Jamie: I’ll be exhibiting this new body of work with R Duane Reed Gallery at SOFA CHICAGO (November 6-8 at the Navy Pier). I’ll also be showing some of these new pieces at Pismo Gallery in Denver this fall. Pismo is currently showing some of my newest “Mod” series of wall installations, as is Traver Gallery, Tacoma, and Vetri Gallery, Seattle.
