Aperture

Aperture, 2011
luminouscarved glass sculpture

APERTURE, Located at the James A. Richardson Airport in Winnipeg, Canada, is comprised of over 200 horizontal layers of ¾ inch glass. The luminous work uses LED lights embedded within the solid glass sculpture. LED lighting technology allowed me to explore unique approaches to illuminate glass. I applied dichroic filters to create lighting affects of dynamic shifting tones in blue, violet and gold. The unique lighting brought out nuances and detail of the sculpted form.

The main concept for “APERTURE” is in response to airport architect Cesar Pelli’s fascination with the Manitoba horizon line, the thin line that stretches to infinity across the prairie, separating sky from earth.

APERTURE presents the viewer with a new perspective in experiencing the horizon line that is visible through the glass curtain wall. APERTURE’S two illuminated glass structures incorporate cantilevered openings on axis, that combine to create an orifice that focuses the viewer’s attention directly on the horizon line.

The issues that concerned me were contextual; the interwoven relationships between artist, viewer, and the site. I sought to identify the essence of the site, and present it to the viewer in ways that would perhaps, compel them to consider their environment in new ways, to create a new experience of that location.

Additionally, I reiterated the most striking architectural feature of the airport, Pelli’s dramatic cantilevered “plane wing” roof.

“APERTURE” can also be perceived as a prairie landscape, windswept snow, river ice at breakup, furrowed farmland, rock strata, and Buffalo Stones, the large boulders that stand stoically on the prairie.

The technique of stacking and laminating glass allowed me to create a form that was very much unlike the common perception of the flat prairie landscape, but could be recognized as a portrait of the Canadian prairie.

Glass has the unique ability to capture, embody and transmit light. APERTURE’S carved glass with its translucent frosted white surface is a three dimensional canvas, giving form to light.