EXHIBITS OFFER CLUES TO THE ‘MYSTERY’ OF GLASS

To Dextra Frankel, there are few mediums as seductive as glass.

“I have to say glass has a certain magic, even mystery, that entices and affects us for several reasons,” said Frankel, a curator of -”Cast Glass Sculpture,” an exhibit at the Cal State Fullerton art gallery through May 11.

“It draws us in through its delicacy and the way light plays through it, changing its face. Glass is like nothing else. It sometimes seems alive.”

Frankel’s enthusiasm is inspired not so much by glass itself, which, after all, is just processed sand, but rather, she says, by the artists’ manipulation of the material. The Cal State show spotlights this creativity.

American and international (Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Great Britain are represented) artists contributed 30 pieces, some abstract, some more literal. What they all share is technique. Works were made by casting, which involves pouring molten glass into molds that provide the finished form, Frankel said.

The exhibit represents Cal State’s participation in the annual Glass Art Society’s conference for lovers and craftsmen of this most elegant of mediums. The conference, which runs Wednesday through Saturday, is centered in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel, but has a few satellite programs as well.

In conjunction with the exhibit, Cal State Fullerton will offer a series of glass-working discussions and demonstrations from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at the visual arts building.p.m. Seattle artist Paul Marionne and Los Angeles artist Therman Statom, both displaying their work at the exhibit, will present a talk on glass casting, Frankel said. The show and lectures are open to the public.

The entire program, she said, is supported by a $20,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant.

The Los Angeles conference, according to glass society president Susan Stinsmehlen, will cover a wide range of topics, including sculpture, blown and flat glass, neon and the use of glass in architecture. The Cal State Fullerton exhibit emphasizes what type of sculpture can be made through molds.

“The sculpture is totally different, of course, from blown glass or, say, stained glass,” Frankel explained. “It allows for heavier, more substantial forms. Torsos, heavy abstract designs, really anything that has a definite shape. It’s very ambitious and gives the artist plenty of opportunity” to flex the imagination.

But if an artist wants bulk and weight, why not turn to bronze or other more traditional casting materials?

“Now we’re talking about the magic again,” Frankel said. “You can do so many more things with glass. Just look at what you can do with color. The manipulation of color through forms and the way light works those colors, can only be reached in glass.”

A more generalized view of glass art is on display at the Eileen Kremen Gallery in Fullerton through May 16. Gallery owner Kremen said she mounted the “Diversities in Glass” show in honor of the society’s conference and with the hope that it will give the public an inkling of the medium’s many permutations.

More than 35 pieces by 14 artists are displayed offering examples of stained, blown and laminated glass, as well as sculpture and neon art. The artists include Elly Sherman, who creates glass books complete with individual pages, and Paul Harrie, with his monumental free-forms.

Kremen believes we are in the midst of a glass-making renaissance with more and more artists turning to the medium and new forms and styles emerging. The quality of the pieces is improving, too, as technique in all areas continues to evolve, she said.

“Refinement, expansion and experimentation has had a snowball effect on glass formation,” Kremen said. “Individualistic statements and interpretations” have resulted.

And like Frankel, Kremen can’t help but wax about glass’s possibilities.

“It is very sensual and fascinating, at least it is to me,” she said. “It can be as meaningful as a steel sculpture, but it never gets boring. Because it’s so fragile, it looks unapproachable, but it is always approachable.”

The Cal State Fullerton gallery is open from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Eileen Kremen Gallery, 619 North Harbor Blvd., Fullerton, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.