Fear Of Hard Rain
We are living through profoundly disruptive times. Many people have died or gotten sick. Others have lost loved ones. Others have suffered economically. The suffering may not be over for some time as the future is profoundly uncertain. Others have suffered social injustices. Others have lost their homes or at risk for losing them. Others who have had close relationships with people that they trusted have found themselves profoundly disappointed by these very same people recently. This is a new world and it is one that we are overwhelmed by.
As a consequence, it is only natural that our collective level of fear has risen substantially. No matter how strong we like to think that we are we all have fears. Sometimes we try to hide them but they are with us nonetheless. Often, they lurk within our subconscious and periodically pop out even though we don’t want them to. At other times, they rent space in our heads and unfortunately we never have any peace. No question about it. Fear is always with us but we are far more cognizant of it as of late.
As a glass artist I know two things. I know that like humans my adopted art media is a fragile one hence it lends itself to the topic. It can break and it can melt. Like fear it can cut you and it can hurt you. In fact, it’s a perfect match. But it also cleans up real nicely. It can recreate itself and it can look astonishingly beautiful. The Fear Of fused glass series communicates these qualities visually. Glass has an amazing habit of saying “Look at me! I’m special and I’m different.”
Secondly, I know that as an artist, I am prone to sensitivity. Hence, I have chosen to do series of artworks that explore the topic of universal fears. It is not an easy topic to tackle. There are many types of fears. No matter how hard we try to work on becoming strong individuals, we cannot escape fear entirely. To see the pain that the world is going through is difficult. However, burying problems usually does not resolve them.
