Collection Search | Corning Museum of Glass

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The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) (r) is a structured vocabulary for generic concepts related to art and architecture. It was developed by The Getty Research Institute to help research institutions become consistent in the terminology they use.Learn More

Object Name:

Sculpture

Title:

Insert myself within your story

Maker(s):

Wilmarth, Christopher (American, 1943-1987), Artist

Weber, Paul, Assistant

California College of Arts and Crafts, Studio

Place Made:

United States, CA, Oakland

United States, NY, New York City

Accession Number:

82.4.19

Dimensions:

Overall H: 46.1 cm, W: 35.5 cm

Location:

On Display

Date:

1979-1981

Credit Line:

Purchased with the aid of funds from the National Endowment for the Arts

Web Description:

During an artist residency at the University of California in Berkeley, Christopher Wilmarth visited the glass studio of the nearby California College of Arts and Crafts, headed by Marvin Lipofsky (whose sculpture is also displayed in this gallery). Working with Lipofsky’s glassblowing students, Wilmarth began making a series of blown glass and metal sculptures that he titled "Breath." For him, blown glass symbolized frozen breath. It was a material that made breath visible. Wilmarth wrote about this series: "I have tried to make sculptures that evoke a spiritual disembodied state close to that of reverie, the kind of perfection I have found during my revelations or epiphanies. Understanding Mallarme was an epiphany in that I found myself in his poems." The writer Wilmarth refers to is the French symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarme (1842–1898).

More Info

Department:

Modern and Contemporary

Series:

Breath

Provenance:

Wilmarth, Christopher (American, 1943-1987), Source

1982-05-06

Color:

(a) Pale green; (b) bronze

Technique:

Blown, acid-etched glass; patinated bronze

Description

Primary Description:

(a) Pale green transparent glass; blown with additional partial gather; acid etched, polished. Ovoid head shape pressed in on side with partial gather; thread from partial gather overlaps single gather portion; irregular acid etching over entire surface; rough polished base with oval hole into interior; rough pontil on top; unsigned. (b) Bronze; cut, dripped, patinated. Thin, rectangular form with semi-oval section cut away through half thickness from lower right hand portion of the panel; dripped bronze beading on left side and along bottom of top edge; hold through panel near top center and large hole near bottom center of semi-oval cut away section; metal peg enters panel above this larger hole and is used for hanging (a) onto (b); patinated surface; unsigned. Four screws, four cut-off nails, three plastic and one metal anchors, two toggles and mounting instructions accompany the sculpture.