Sunday, January 3, 2016

Dreams of the Carbon Base: Contemporary Sculpture in Glass and More








“Dreams of the Carbon Base: Contemporary Sculpture in Glass and More

Mark Galen Lucas creates works of art that are simultaneously delicate and complex.  His sculptures are intended to create an aesthetic that impacts feelings while encouraging contemplation.

Mr. Lucas is a self-taught artist who has always been interested in science, especially microbiology and anatomy. A display that he saw at the American Museum of Natural History in New York some years ago continues to inspire his work.  That display, featuring large glass recreations of organisms, propelled him to further explore different life forms in his own glass works.

Mr. Lucas is a lamp-worked glass artist, one who uses a table-mounted torch to melt and fuse glass to create his visions.  About this process he comments, “I often find myself day dreaming while working the glass rods with the torch. I am fascinated with the effects that heat, gravity and centrifugal forces have on the glass rods.” 

While forming sculptures, Mr. Lucas is continually thinking, even dreaming, of life and evolution and what the world will be like in the future. He considers the many ways that man is impacting nature now and questions the prudence of some of those actions.   He also references branching and repeating patterns in nature.   “These patterns,” he notes, “are always floating around in my head, changing and evolving, while I work.”   And while he works, he contemplates where life is headed and the effects of evolution.

“Dreams of the Carbon Base: Contemporary Sculpture in Glass and More”
Opens January 2 with an Art Walk reception from 5-8pm.
Show runs Jan.2-March 2.  Daily from 10 am to 6 pm.
Jerome Artists’ Cooperative Gallery
502 Main St. Jerome
928-639-4276          info@jeromecoop.com                www.jeromecoop.com