b|d collaborative
This body of work is joint contemplation of interests between myself and David Schnuckel in relation to issues of change, growth, proximity, dependency and connectivity. These are metaphorical qualities that not only define characteristics of our identity as individuals, but elements that have become characteristic of our partnership - one that has been long-term and maintained at long-distance. Our collaborative work seeks to explore these things under a poetic lens, finding parallels with terminology, principles, and phenomena from the fields of science and mathematics to speak sculpturally towards notions of discovery including growth, struggle and, sometimes, failure.
In seeking new opportunities and potential within our own studio practice, we have merged our collective experiences and skills as both glassworkers and artists. My specialization with various kiln working processes, often incorporates the re-appropriation of antique objects, elements of the body and acts of commemoration. David brings a technical familiarity with blowing glass and an interest in using imagery and words within a sculptural context. Formally, we blend our interests in scientific instrumentation, historical Venetian aesthetics and the human body as expressive motifs we associate as vehicles of change and transformation.
One interesting thematic element that is governing a large part of this exploration is in observing an interesting relationship within our nicknames for each other...our first names pared down to just the first letter. When written down and put side-to-side, the characters of 'b' and 'd' create a mirror image of one another...seemingly similar, but very different. In chemistry this is known as chirality - structures of organic molecules composed of identical components yet arranged as a non-superposable mirror images of one another...just as the left hand mirrors the right hand, but is not a direct replica of each other. In fact, the word chiral takes etymological root in Greek origins as kheir, which translates to English as "hand." We are both interested in the dichotomous nature involved with discovery and how, under certain circumstances, seemingly disconnected elements rely one another to expose something new and unforeseen.
In turn, the collaborative is about finding meaning in the complex and asymmetrical nature within the human experience that we undergo individually and collectively...and how those observations inevitably effect how we continually redefine ourselves and our relationship.
In seeking new opportunities and potential within our own studio practice, we have merged our collective experiences and skills as both glassworkers and artists. My specialization with various kiln working processes, often incorporates the re-appropriation of antique objects, elements of the body and acts of commemoration. David brings a technical familiarity with blowing glass and an interest in using imagery and words within a sculptural context. Formally, we blend our interests in scientific instrumentation, historical Venetian aesthetics and the human body as expressive motifs we associate as vehicles of change and transformation.
One interesting thematic element that is governing a large part of this exploration is in observing an interesting relationship within our nicknames for each other...our first names pared down to just the first letter. When written down and put side-to-side, the characters of 'b' and 'd' create a mirror image of one another...seemingly similar, but very different. In chemistry this is known as chirality - structures of organic molecules composed of identical components yet arranged as a non-superposable mirror images of one another...just as the left hand mirrors the right hand, but is not a direct replica of each other. In fact, the word chiral takes etymological root in Greek origins as kheir, which translates to English as "hand." We are both interested in the dichotomous nature involved with discovery and how, under certain circumstances, seemingly disconnected elements rely one another to expose something new and unforeseen.
In turn, the collaborative is about finding meaning in the complex and asymmetrical nature within the human experience that we undergo individually and collectively...and how those observations inevitably effect how we continually redefine ourselves and our relationship.