since the late 1960s, american artist dale chihuly has been working in the art and craft of glassblowing. his pieces portray  dynamic, flamboyant and color-saturated forms that push the limits of the material. with works seen across the U.S. and worldwide, chihuly is now debuting a new collection dubbed chihuly merletto.  the series, which will be presented at seattle’s traver gallery, recounts the artist’s journey in glass experimentation with an ancient technique called merletto — italian for lace.

dale chihuly captures the movement of lace in glass in merletto collection
image © chihuly studio – all rights reserved

 

 

first developed on the island of murano in the 15th century, merletto is a technique used in glassblowing where white cane is employed to create intricate, organic patterns. the labor-intensive and complex traditional process has been reinterpreted by chihuly, who departs from the precision of the classic venetian technique and relays an expressive energy to his mesh-like patterns. the artist approaches the pieces by integrating the opaque white cane to his iconic basket series and references his early basket drawings which he creates with bundles of pencils, capturing the three-dimensional form on paper.

dale chihuly captures the movement of lace in glass in merletto collection
image © chihuly studio – all rights reserved

 

 

traditional merletto glass has a sort of recognizable pattern that dale chihuly is able to divert by giving it a more organic finish. the resulting pieces feature a basket-like shape that allows the eye to flow through the different lines. ‘chihuly merletto mimics the feel of lace, the way it moves and drapes easily into soft forms,’ comments chihuly. ‘it’s a natural evolution of my basket series. my aim with chihuly merletto was to capture the movement of lace in the glass.’

dale chihuly captures the movement of lace in glass in merletto collection
image © chihuly studio – all rights reserved

 

 

‘this body of work is a great example of how dale has always worked and how he continues to explore the medium of glass and stretch his vocabulary,’ concludes leslie chihuly, CEO of chihuly studio. ‘new ideas, old techniques, playing with the illusion of intricate lace within asymmetrical Basket forms.’

dale chihuly captures the movement of lace in glass in merletto collection
image © chihuly studio – all rights reserved

dale chihuly captures the movement of lace in glass in merletto collection
image © chihuly studio – all rights reserved

dale chihuly captures the movement of lace in glass in merletto collection
image © chihuly studio – all rights reserved

dale chihuly captures the movement of lace in glass in merletto collection
image © chihuly studio – all rights reserved

 

 

project info:

 

name: merletto collection

artist: dale chihuly

presented at: traver gallery