Seen: Devin Burgess is ready for his close-up at Penland resident exhibition

Devin Burgess, Traces, 2009. Blown glass, wheel-cut surfaces. H 26 in. (tallest)

Tomorrow night, Penland School of Crafts hosts an opening reception for “The Barns: 2009,” its showcase exhibition of seven artists-in-residence working in ceramics, wood, metal, or glass, who will be celebrated for the progress they’ve made during one of the most important residencies available to artists working in craft media. Among the standouts are the notable vessel groupings of glassblower Devin Burgess, whose newest work reveals a sophisticated exploration of asymmetry.

Burgess intensively works vessels that have been expertly blown with off-center necks and arranged to maximize the interplay and tension of their graceful forms. Surfaces are elaborately wheel-cut, or, cross-hatched with cane to take drawing techniques into three dimensions. This is notable work that defies expectations of symmetry while finding new harmony through refined execution as it blurs the boundaries between design and sculpture.

Devin Burgess, Les Poulets Sans Tetes, 2009. Blown incalmo glass, black powder, wheel-cut. H 16, W 22, D 4 in.

Burgess treats color with equal refinement, grinding off black powder to reveal areas of clear or colored glass with an effect of charring, as if the vessel just emerged from a smoky fire, as in Les Poulets Sans Tetes (Headless Chickens), 2009.

Graduating from Alfred with several prizes, including the functional design award, Burgess has been an assistant at several North Carolina hotshops prior to his Penland residency. “Before, I was mainly working on other people’s work,” Burgess told GLASS in a telephone interview. “I wasn’t able to focus on my own work until now.”

One year into this three-year term at Penland, Burgess has been able to build his own hot and cold shops and attract attention by showing his production lines at craft shows. “I’m using the Penland residency to focus on sculptural projects in addition to developing production lines that will help me sustain my studio,” he says. “Penland is huge for me since it gave me the chance to establish myself and focus on my ideas instead of grabbing a little time here and there between working for other people. It would have taken me so much longer to get to where I am now.” More images of Burgess’s work are available on his website. You can also watch Burgess talk about his own work in this video on YouTube.

Also on display at the Penland exhibit is the work of residents David Chatt, Margaret Couch Cogswell, Jeong Ju Lee, Daniel Marinelli, Sarah Martin, and Amy Tavern.