Alex Gabriel Bernstein

Photo by Teresa B. ABJ Seattle Glass Online. Mt. Baker, Coleman Glacier, 2009.

The other day I went ice climbing with some co-workers on the Coleman Glacier on Mt. Baker. My forearms hurt, my toes hurt, and I finally gained an appreciation of Alex Gabriel Bernstein's work. He has a rapidly rising star. In May of this year he was the Artist of the Month for the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. In Seattle, Traver Gallery represents him. But I never could quite grasp the work. Finally, after seeing Mt. Baker's surreal seracs, I now have a positive association with the jagged teeth and haphazard occurrence of the sharply carved glass in Bernstein's pieces. Glass is often compared to ice, but the breathtaking danger of a crevassed glacier is something other than the carved swan on the banquet table. For me it caused a minor sort of paradigm shift. (In the back of my mind I'm hearing, "Was it Clive Bell who warned against drawing from your emotions to understand art?")

Glass sculpture isn't always something I'm immediately smitten with, but through time and contemplation I can come to an appreciation of most of it. Seeing unfamiliar shapes in sculpture is not exciting, it's confusing and it's easy to look without seeing. But if I have a reference point, as I now do for Bernstein's work, I can enjoy it. This is probably not the most sophisticated method of appreciating glass. And it would probably be quite boring, if when I wrote about glass, I went on about what it reminded me of-- like a person describing a dream they had. Yet, this is a personal step, and maybe not everyone takes it, that I'd like to point out in this post.

The glacier on Baker is constantly morphing. The permanent ice pack was formed by a slow accumulation of snow. The seracs were made through the movement and melt of the glacier.

Photo by Teresa B. ABJ Seattle Glass Online. Mt. Baker, Coleman Glacier, 2009.

Alex Gabriel Bernstein. New Blue Figure.
Photo Credit: AACG Artist of the Month, May 2009
http://www.contempglass.org/seeing_glass/BernsteinMay09/ArtistBernstein5.html

Mt. Baker, Coleman Glacier.

Photo Credit: flickr user Silviabak.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/silviabak/2981047531/