Item Type: Glass Sculpture
Artist: Chris HeilmanCountry: USA
Color: Multi
Size: 7.5"H x 11.5"W
Chris Heilman is a contemporary master of the centuries-old techniques of hand blown glass.
Like aquariums frozen in suspended animation his Coral Reef Sculpture Series captures the tranquility and timelessness of the deep. Brilliantly colored fish swim motionlessly through delicate seafans and clusters of coral. Each sculpture evokes a marine fantasia in glass.
"As all artists, my work is inevitably inspired by my life," says Heilman. "My Coral Reef Series evolves from my recent interest in scuba diving, which gives me the opportunity to express my fascination with the mysterious world of inner space, the coral reef. Myriad colors of encrusting sponges, design of coral colonies and detail of coral reef fish land opportunity to exciting new ways of personal expression and expansion of technique in the glass media. My intent lies in creating a complex tapestry of color juxtaposed with design through layering of torchdrawn glass cane imagery."
The remarkable detail is achieved by using the traditional lampmaking and murrini techniques. Heilman spends a considerable amount of time pre-making the numerous bandpulled glass rods and canes, called murrini that are used to create the design elements inside each sculpture. The earliest known murrini were made around 1500BC by the Egyptians.
Heilman maintains his studio on the coast of Maine. His sculptures have been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States and are included in the permanent collections of the Portland Museum of Art, ME; The Museum of American Glass, NJ; and the Swarovski International Corporation in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1991 one of Heilman's sculptures was presented as a Spirit and Enrichment Award to Jacques-Yves Cousteau by the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida.
