Dale Chihuly

May 30, 2011
The appeal of this book lies in the color photographs displaying the originality of color and form in the work of glass artist Chihuly. This companion book to an exhibition celebrating his 70th birthday focuses on how his family, his hometown of Tacoma, Wash., and the Pacific Northwest have informed his career. Chihuly's mother fostered his fascination with color and form through the complex colors and forms in her flower gardens and her love of sunsets. His thinking about gardens certainly inspired Chihuly's Ikebana and Mille Fiori series. Tacoma's frontier mentality, observes Tacoma Art Museum curator Hushka, drives Chihuly's experimentation with scale, texture, color, forms, and thinness (which is technically difficult) free of the conventions of both the East Coast and European conventions. The abundance of water and rain in the Puget Sound area is a major influence on Chihuly, who also explored the frozen state of water in his Icicle Creek Chandelier and other installations. A lifelong interest in Native American culture and imagery profoundly influenced his Baskets, Cylinders, and Soft Cylinders series, which keenly pay tribute to the Indian crafts of basket and blanket weaving. This intimate, thoughtful celebration highlights the influences of nature and nurture on a unique talent, but the book's regional feel and small scale of its photographs likely preclude a wider audience.