Hanging Series #24

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Hanging Series #24

Artist Mary Shaffer (American, born 1947)

Place of OriginProvidence, Rhode Island

Date1978

Dimensions40 1/4 x 28 1/4 x 2 in.

MediumPlate glass and wire

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Dorothy and George Saxe

Object number

1991.136

Not on View

Label TextIn Mary Shaffer’s deceptively simple hanging sculpture, the glass seems to be returning to its molten state, held in place precariously by twisted pieces of wire. In order to capture such forms, Shaffer developed a method of slumping (heating the glass until it is just pliable enough to be affected by gravity’s pull) in mid-air, sculpting it and letting natural forces influence the shapes. "It’s like playing with the wind,” she says. “Holding glass is like holding light in your hands.”Published ReferencesLynn, Martha Drexler, American Studio Glass: 1960-1990, New York, Hudson Hills, 2004, repr. (col.) p. 146.Exhibition HistoryNew York, O. K. Harris Gallery, Mary Shaffer--Recent Works, 1979.

Toledo Museum of Art; The Saint Louis Art Museum; Newport Beach, California, Newport Harbor Art Museum; Washington, D.C., Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art Smithsonian Institution, Contemporary Crafts and the Saxe Collection, 1993-1995, pl. 50, p. 78, cat. no. 95, p. 206.