Decorative Glass - November 2008

November 2008

Feature

Beneath the Surface
Glass Artist Jon Kuhn Talks About His
Creative Process in Developing His Art

Jon Kuhn is not like other glass artists. While the masses are drawn to work with hot glass, Kuhn prefers working with cold glass from his massive studio in Winston-Salem, N.C. Kuhn likens his work, which can be seen in museums and galleries around the world, to meditation in that you have to go beneath the surface to find what’s important.

The cold glass technique Kuhn employs involves cutting, grinding, polishing and laminating different glass types and then repeating the process tens of thousands of times so that the final sculpture has anywhere from 5,000 to 1 million components.

Before he began working with cold glass, Kuhn worked as a potter, in furniture making and then glass blowing before earning his master’s of fine art from Virginia Commonwealth University. After leaving the masters program Kuhn started his own hot glass studio, but decided after seven years he wanted to work with glass in different ways. After a year of research, he developed the technology and techniques he uses today.

Kuhn talked with DG magazine about his artwork, and the techniques and thought processes he employs.

What attracted you to this type of work [cold glass]?
I find that there are an infinite variety of ideas that I can express this way; I found hot glass very limiting.

Why do you think so few artists work with cold glass compared to hot glass?
Is hot glass easier to work with?No, it’s just more exciting; the actual process is more exciting. Working with cold glass is very labor intensive and time consuming.

What have been your most memorable or important experiences over the course of your career?
There have been a lot of them … all museum exhibitions … but the last one at the Mint Museum of Design in Charlotte, N.C. 2003-2004 was the best … it was the most ambitious body of work I had ever created.

How do you decide which galleries to work with?
It’s always about a relationship with the people—it’s not the gallery, but the people. So if I have a good relationship with the people and I get along with them, then it will be fun to do business with them and it works.

From where do you draw your inspiration and what’s your thought process?
I was attracted to glass as a medium [because] the information with which I was dealing was beneath the surface; it’s inside the sculpture as opposed to paint and wood, which are very surface-oriented materials. Glass can be used as a surface material, but I like the quality of the depth of this material and seeing into it. So it’s what’s beneath the surface [that matters]. Much like when you talk about a person, it’s ultimately what’s beneath the surface that counts. That’s what attracted me to glass and I’ve been exploring it ever since.

What is the most challenging part of working with glass?
It’s a very unforgiving material.

If there’s a mistake … the glass gets nicked … does that mean the whole piece is ruined or can it be fixed?
I can always fix or change things. Sometimes I can restore or repair it. I can grind off the offending piece and laminate a new piece of glass on it to restore it to its original size. Or sometimes I might just grind and polish it smaller.

How do you get past creative blocks?
I don’t have creative blocks. Every so often I’ve wondered how I will come up with the next idea, but it just happens. It’s the easiest thing in the world, I think, to be creative. The tough thing is cash flow.

Have you been involved in any architectural jobs?
I’ve talked to people, but have not as of yet. There, it’s more to do with the client than the architect and people usually like to put their money into space rather than extraordinary quality.

There has been a movement within the architectural community to use more decorative glass because it brings a unique element to the project. Have you seen that happening?
I have and someday it may happen for me, too. But I’m doing another project right now that I’ve actually been involved with for about three years … I have a partnership with the Bösendorfer Piano Company (see sidebar on page 15) and that’s the most exciting thing I’ve got going right now … [working with] a 180-year-old company that’s never done this before. They have consented to developing a new series of pianos and this will be the world’s most expensive, new piano called the Kuhn-Bösendorfer—that name will be [engraved on the fallboard]. When a collector buys one his name will be on it, too. Engraved in gold leaf beneath the surface of the glass it would say “Collection of …” so it will be an absolute one-of-a-kind piano.
(Editor’s note: the black Kuhn-Bösendorfer piano, as well as its matching bench, are each inset with as many as 100-thousand hand cut, polished glass jewels created by Kuhn.)

How do you see the art glass industry evolving and how will it change the way you work?
Since the industry is made up of so many creative individuals, it’s hard for any one individual to say how it will evolve. You just have to take it a day at a time and as opportunities come before you, you decide yes or no.

Do you think there’s a particular feeling or underlying thought that you try and put into your work?
I would guess it’s a spiritual experience.

In the next few years where would you like to see yourself as an artist?
I’m doing some monumental pieces now, but to go even more monumental would be challenging and exciting.