Alland_Disquietude #16

Statement 

The Disquietude series explores ideas related to memory and cognition. Words, made of bubbles trapped between black and clear glass, appear or disappear depending on light and viewing angle due to a mirror-like iridescent coating. The imagery’s intermittent quality alludes to the experience of having an idea or word on the tip of your tongue only to have it slip away. My father had dementia for the last few years of his life. Witnessing his decline and thinking about other people’s cognitive challenges (such as my husband's dyslexia) were the impetus for creating this series.

Unlike most glass artists who see bubbles as flaws, I usually try to trap air in my pieces. A glass membrane skirting around the edge of air substantiates the invisible. The magic and whimsy of bubbles represent personal symbols - for example: beauty found in imperfection and the buzz of brain activity and hum of human thought.

Bio 

Julie Alland was raised in New York State and has lived in San Francisco since 1985. Her studio practice involves investigating the physical properties of materials. This exploration results in work that connects process and concept. Substantiating the invisible, paradoxes, memory, mortality and intersection of the arts and sciences are examples of predominant preoccupations and themes in her work. Like a musician, she explores these motifs repeatedly with different instruments, styles and tonalities.

Julie received a merit grant from the Vermont Studio Center where she was an artist in residence January of 2020. She was awarded a Pilchuck Glass School Hauberg Fellowship/Artist in Residence. Her work was selected for New Glass Review 25 and 39, is in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts in Switzerland (MUDAC), the Racine Art Museum and the Bullseye Glass Company. Some of her work can be seen in “Tg: Transitions in Kiln Glass” at The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft until 5/13/23.

http://www.juliealland.com/