Photograph by Joe Kramm.
In a field—glass—that tends to reward speed and spectacle (the kind of daredevilry mastered by Jeff Zimmerman, for example) Thaddeus Wolfe has adopted a very different approach. He works with the technique of casting, which is slower and more deliberative than glass blowing but, in his hands at least, can produce equally mesmerizing effects. In fact, there are two separate casting stages in the work: first, he makes a mold by casting it around broken and carved Styrofoam. Then he uses this negative to cast the glass. Each mold can only be used once. When pouring the glass, he works sequentially, with different tints.
Once it is cooled, he then carves and polishes the mass. The results are complex and geological, suggestive of crystals and caverns, yet also painterly, with swirling ribbons and pools of color. Recently, Wolfe has also been adding bronze and acrylic structural elements to his work, resulting in objects of an architectural character—things excised, perhaps, from a cityscape that exists only in his imagination.
Untitled sculpture in glass and bronze. Designed and made by Thaddeus Wolfe, USA, 2019.
7" L x 7.25" W x 10.5" H
17.8cm L x 18.4cm W x 26.7cm H
SG2303
Courtesy of Volume Gallery