Mississippi Banks

Artist Sibylle Peretti (German, born 1964)

Date2018

DimensionsInstalled on Board: 70 × 90 × 3/4 in. (177.8 × 228.6 × 1.9 cm)
Each Plate [approximate, slight variations in sizes of plates]: 9 3/4 × 9 3/4 × 1/4 in. (24.8 × 24.8 × 0.6 cm)

MediumGlass, mixed media

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds given by Rita Barbour Kern

Object number

2019.22

Not on View

Description“Mississippi Banks” is a wall mural that utilizes 63 glass plates placed in a grid-like manner. The composition and final monochromatic image of two young children playing in a wooded landscape is a combination of photography, collaged imagery paired with drawing, painting, gravures and silvering. The original photographs were transformed into enlarged laser prints, which were applied on the back of the glass plates. The opaque quality of the glass comes from its qualities as opaline striking glass.

Label TextSibylle Peretti grew up in Germany where the rich tradition of glassmaking influenced the direction of her artistic training, and the Bavarian forests inspired her choice of landscape as a predominant theme in her work. Using flat, kiln-formed glass panels (here, 63), Peretti composes poetic narratives about the enigmatic relationship between humans and the natural world. Within her magical environments, she creates spaces for contemplation where we can uncover the secrets of coexistence. Mississippi Banks is inspired by a photograph Peretti took at the Mississippi River in New Orleans, near where she lives and works. Later, she added the two children absorbed in the exploration of their surroundings. To reinforce the physical nature of the landscape, Peretti created molds of tree branches and other found elements from the riverbank site that she used to give the glass panels texture and dimension. The soft color palette and milky translucence of the opaline glass evoke a sense of hope and possibility, and the riverbank becomes a place of refuge, replete with beauty and solace. The strands of silvery pearls summon feelings of desire and longing and symbolize a promise to forever connect us to these enchanted landscapes.Published ReferencesThe Corning Museum of Glass, New Glass Review 41, Corning, New York, The Corning Museum of Glass, 2020, repr. (col). p. 127.Exhibition HistoryNorfolk, Virginia, Chrysler Museum of Art, Promise and Perception: The Enchanted Landscapes of Sibylle Peretti, March 15, 2018-September 9, 2018. Toledo Museum of Art, Global Conversations: Art in Dialogue, March 9, 2019-March 8, 2020.