The Corning Museum of Glass recently unveiled its 2012 Rakow Commission work: “Flower Block” by Danish artist Steffen Dam. “Flower Block” is a grouping of 24 glass blocks, each containing the artist’s interpretation of parts of a flower.
Dam’s glass blocks, panels and jars invoke fossilized biological and botanical slides used in scientific research - but the function of the ambiguous specimens trapped in glass is aesthetic, not scholarly, according to CmoG.
“Dam’s work is very much about the exploration of process and material,” says Tina Oldknow, curator of modern glass at CMoG. “His work is a great fit for our collection which spans the full history of glassmaking. It relates to the history of botanical-inspired expressions in glass, but it’s also very contemporary.”
Dam’s work is found in public and private collections throughout the world. Inaugurated in 1986, the Rakow Commission is awarded to professional artists whose work is not yet represented in the museum’s collection. The Rakow Commission supports new works of art in glass by encouraging emerging or established artists to venture into new areas that they might otherwise be unable to explore because of financial limitations.
The Corning Museum of Glass recently unveiled its 2012 Rakow Commission work: “Flower Block” by Danish artist Steffen Dam. “Flower Block” is a grouping of 24 glass blocks, each containing the artist’s interpretation of parts of a flower.
Dam’s glass blocks, panels and jars invoke fossilized biological and botanical slides used in scientific research - but the function of the ambiguous specimens trapped in glass is aesthetic, not scholarly, according to CmoG.
“Dam’s work is very much about the exploration of process and material,” says Tina Oldknow, curator of modern glass at CMoG. “His work is a great fit for our collection which spans the full history of glassmaking. It relates to the history of botanical-inspired expressions in glass, but it’s also very contemporary.”
Dam’s work is found in public and private collections throughout the world. Inaugurated in 1986, the Rakow Commission is awarded to professional artists whose work is not yet represented in the museum’s collection. The Rakow Commission supports new works of art in glass by encouraging emerging or established artists to venture into new areas that they might otherwise be unable to explore because of financial limitations.
