I thought I would detail some of the background story for one of my new series the Crate Series....

Idea:

The Crate Series is my first new series since moving to Australia from America. My previous series were primarily focused on exploring the structures and forms found in the everyday surroundings of urban landscapes. By highlighting on these sometimes overlooked places and objects, I was trying to highlight the common elements, struggles and conditions of life experienced by individuals regardless of the exact city in which they were living.

Upon moving to Australia, I lost my landscape. I felt that my imagery did not extend it's meaning to my new environment. This has led me to a new chapter and this new series. With the Crate Series I am transitioning my imagery and ideas to span the distance between my old horizons and my new. The Crates are pieces that physically represent the form of a shipping crate and the imagery on the interior depicts an object or idea that would be a need or a want for something that is un-orderable, un-receivable and/or undeliverable. These "crates" are empty and enclosed forms that hold nothing but the depiction of the unobtainable.


Construction:

To create the works for this Crate Series , I first think of an appropriate piece to construct. See Fig.1a

I then draw the image that I would like to illustrate on the interior of the glass form. I do take photos to help my editing of composition and detail, but my sketches are rendered freehand. This allows me to edit the image the way I see them in my head and have the image retain the evidence of being done by my hand. See Fig.1 for a sample of a final sketch.

Once I have my drawing, I scan the black and white image into my computer so that I can print it onto transparencies. I then take the transparencies and make sandblast resists that will allow me to blast the line work of the image onto the glass blanks.

Each of the six sides of the crates are made from clear pre-fused glass blanks. After fusing, the edges of the blanks are cleaned up to make the edges sharp and clean. Once this is done, I then apply the prepared sand blast resists to the surfaces and blast the line work gently into the glass surfaces. The blasted lines then get a high fired enamel paint wiped into them (similar to a etching plate for printmaking). I then paint and wipe more ink onto the image to give it gray-scale, tone and definition. The paint is then fired onto the surface of the glass in another firing.

Once the image is fired onto the glass blanks, I then flip the pieces over and place them back into the kiln with additional cut glass strips on top. These glass strips are then tack fused to the surface of each piece in a third firing. These strips give the blanks the dimensional support slating that mimics that of wood crates. See Fig.2 for a kiln load of pieces prior to this tack fuse and Fig.3 for a detail shot of a single panel that has been tack fused.

After this third firing, the pieces are gently sandblasted on their surface. Each piece is then put back in the kiln for a fourth and final firing to gently fire polish the sandblasting to a gentle burnished look. This surface for me gives the final form a more physical appearance and also hazes the image as if it was a memory.

The six sides are then glued together into their final form. The sides of the crates are glued with an acrylic set UV glue, and the caps are adhered with a construction grade silicone. These two glues enable the form to more easily adjust to fluctuations in room temperatures and to endure handling. One of the sides also gets a small hole drilled through it to enable the form to "breathe" and handle changes in altitude. The pieces are then signed, photographed and recorded.

If you are interested in these works, please contact the Duane Reed Gallery.

I have just returned from a mega 40 day trip around the world. Before I left, I was helping Warren Langley install his 25 meter light sculpture "Touching Lightly" on top of the old smokestack of the Canberra Glassworks. I missed the opening and the first lighting, but here are some images of the project:

 During the trip, I taught two workshops - in Japan and Pittsburgh - and had three group shows - at Morgan, Swanson Reed, and New Glass and Photography - all were successful and great experiences for me. Overall, it was an excellent trip and I was very excited to see all my old friends and make some new ones.

Now that I am back to Australia, it is time to hit the gym, get focused on accomplishing some objectives down here and working on GAS (check out an update here). Here are a handful of images from the trip:

At the end of this week, Mel and I will be en route to visit Toyama Japan. From there, Mel will come back to Australia and I will continue on to Portland, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Knoxville, and London before coming back down under. I will get to attend two of the three shows I will be in and that will open during my trip. Sadly, and economically, I cannot attend my opening in Berlin. Please check out the work here:http://www.nadaism.de/index.html

I would love to see you all out there, especially in Louisville at the G.A.S. conference.
Here are some of the links to the galleries and events that I have been preparing to check out on my travels:

Toyama
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~tiga/e_top.html
http://museums.toyamaken.jp/e_kenpaku/e_kenpa/e_30.html

Portland:
http://www.powells.com/
http://clayssmokehouse.ypguides.net/
http://www.uglymugpdx.com/
http://www.vitreluxe.com
http://www.deborahhorrell.com/
http://www.maryhillmuseum.org/

Pittsburgh:
http://www.pittsburghglasscenter.org/classes/advanced-classes/classes-Course-Detail.aspx?cid=288
http://www.morganglassgallery.com/default.htm

Louisville:
http://www.glassart.org/2010_louisville.html
http://zephyrgallery.org/exhibit-schedule/

Knoxville:
http://www.artmuseumtouring.com/KMA.html

London:
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/places/royal-observatory/

Here are some images of work that I have sent out to my shows:

I am making some new work relating to the cold culling of our belongings in the States, to the delicate deliberation of what to ship south, to the current considerations of what further items truly need to be built, bought or borrowed to make this life better.

I am focusing on crates, pallets, boxes, containers, barges, and rail cars. I am trying to build pieces that identify:

-the production of a purchased item as the product of someone's day (glass containers on metal rail cars)
-the desire to receive items that are neither purchasable nor shippable (constructed glass crates)
-the wide and complex collection of common components needed to supply a "normal" life (glass forms on metal pallets)

With all of this said, all of these bits are just beginning to coalesce into actual constructions.

Attached are few rough studio shots.

Mel and I are receiving an ample amount of help and support settling into our new home in Australia from friends and family. As part of these new "world headquarters", I have started to assemble a fabrication studio in the garage, begun a new body of work, and am about to be in a group show at Sabbia Gallery in Sydney later this month.

In the meantime, I have been helping an excellent Sydney based artist Warren Langley with a commission he is working on for an exposition in Shanghai. Warren is composing his large commission "Microscopia" at the Canberra Glassworks with his assistant Trent. They rolled into town with 80% of the project completed so that it will be ready to ship by early November. Below is a photo of Warren and Trent contemplating the piece and a couple shots of the textured glass components that I am helping with. I have also added a short news report about the piece.

I have just recently finished my residency at the Australian National University's glass department. The students there were accommodating and fun to be around. I used the time to get my bearings on making here in Australia and to create a couple experimental ideas. In the end, I focused on creating two versions of a single piece. These pieces are now being shown at the Canberra Glassworks gallery in an exhibit entitled "Drawn Across".

Although all of my work has an autobiographical component, I decided to create my first direct self portrait. I thought I could use the format of my Slider Series to best depict the emotional environment that I find myself currently in. With this self portrait, I could portray the recent transition of my life from Portland to Canberra and explore the lateral similarities. As well, I would illustrate these points to create a second piece that would be a collection of destinations along the way.

The Slider(titled "Drawn Across") shows an imagined geographical path between a water tank in Australia and the Old Town water tower in Portland. As the viewer slides the image of me across the path, the sketch I am creating/holding matches up with points along the background. It is the points where the scene and the sketch match up that have been recreated to make the second piece in the show ("25 Sketches"). To go further, the total retail cost for all the "25 Sketches" is equal to that of "Drawn Across". Also, if you were to weigh all of the sketches, they would equal the weight of the slider. Below are some process shots of the work and some images of the show.

Mel and I have landed in Australia.

I have been at the Australian National University doing an artist residency and we are trying to get ourselves settled. It is all been a bit overwhelming.

I am working on some unfinished things for a show at the Canberra Glassworks. For now, here are some shots of some cockatoos and Nadege Desgenetez doing a rollup for me at the school:

...however, it wasn't before throwing a Bon Voyage party at the shop for all the friends and family who have helped us have a such a great and successful studio.