The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. However, there are certain individuals who have the power to frame this horizon. The artist’s role in society is to present new perspectives, to give pause, to target our senses and encourage conversation regarding our surroundings and collective conscience. But we are each born with our own individual perspectives. These are our homes and personal histories, our names, our identities, our points of reference and our initial connection to this world. Beyond this point, there exist an infinite number of ways to frame our views. I see my surroundings as a combination of light and shadow, encompassing the built environment in a collection of lines and angles.
Today I dream of a world with a simple aesthetic, patient but precise. I see the physical structures that surround us, how they shape and reflect our environment, outlook, and relationships. I am interested in the way form, light and shadow shape our perspectives. Today I dream of contours. I look for lines that define form, and I look for how these work together to create a whole.
I aspire to see the world as did the Biomorphists, who experienced the organic in our ordinary lives, and who sought to extend the natural ends of the earth with their own organic forms. And I am inspired by a Scandinavian aesthetic, with its powerful clean lines that draw attention to the greater harmony among detail and whole. I work with glass as my primary medium because of the flexibility it affords me to develop my desired forms.
Glass reminds us of our molten beginning. The way hot glass, soaked in light, is drawn like viscous honey from fire, then suddenly turns to stone.
Glass is an infinite medium. With a breath of human air, it expand like water to any form.
Glass is a slow medium. It takes hours to sculpt, but it could take months or years to compose the arrangement of forms and to shape a perspective.
Glass is a medium of meditation. By delving into the process of making a simple vessel, we gain perspective on fragility and speed.
Glass is a medium of memory. It remembers where it was cooled, where warmed, and it expands or contracts accordingly.
Glass is a medium of choreography. Teams must be assembled and partners must be trusted to protect each other and deliver support in precise time and at precise temperatures.
Most importantly, glass spills and glass shatters.
And glass is a medium of patience. In the endless iterations of developing a new form, we learn the power of commitment.
I believe in a patient art. I believe in this medium that moves from silence to silence. Like music, that lets the listener focus on a unique combination of sounds, from which a single voice, a simple form, may rise.
I believe in the importance of encouraging conversation regarding the forms and lines that define our collective space. Ultimately, it is our thoughts and perspectives that shape our respective realities. There is new life. There is new life here.
Julian Olidort
2019