Los Angeles-based artist Katherine Gray creates conceptual installations of glass that amplify our experience of common glass forms through unusual presentations and dramatic lighting. By exaggerating the physical presence of familiar glass forms, Gray reminds us of the material’s constant presence in our lives and the underlying nostalgia and history often embodied in the domestic glass objects we collect and display.

Gray’s glass installations explore the idea of clarity, which may seem redundant given that her material of choice is known for being clear and transparent. Glass blowers traditionally strive for perfect transparency in the forms they create, and Gray’s work contains that same technical prowess; but her work extends beyond visual clarity and allows common glass forms to articulate emotional and lived experiences. The drama of Gray’s installations involves complex layers of material, light, color, and form, with each work embodying the artist’s specific moments or thoughts. In addition to Gray’s installations, an interactive series of works give insight into the materials, smells, and sounds associated with the glass blowing studio, also known as the hot shop. In these ways, Gray presents glass as an experience rather than an invisible, everyday material.

Curator: Holly Jerger

This exhibition is supported in part by the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass.

Exhibition Photography: Farah Sosa

Lead Image: Katherine Gray, The Break (detail), 2013. Blown glass, acrylic shelving, 57.5 x 83 x 36 inches, Courtesy of the artist.