I am fascinated with glass and its remarkable, perfect, reflective surface. It can be clear or colorful - any color really. It is everywhere I look, reflecting impulses of light - versions of reality depending on where I am standing. A powerful yet fragile surface that, left on its own, can stand for a while, eventually revealing every chip and scratch, slowly growing tendrils that inevitably shatter the whole into tiny unrecognizable pieces. What is left is a pile of something that used to be beautiful, but is now considered by many to be unworthy and disposable. Each little piece has razor-sharp edges that will injure any who try to pick it up without protection.
Putting the pieces back together to recreate the whole as it was is impossible. Pieces will always be missing. Only by taking the pieces and rearranging them into something new can the possibility of being whole again be considered. Even then, it cannot stand on its own – it will need something to fill in the cracks – something to surround each piece, giving it stability and structural integrity.
Only when the pieces of glass are carefully arranged and glued down in a new way – a new creation – can the piece be completed. Filling in the spaces around the pieces with grout gives the artwork structure, unity and purpose. The transformation is remarkable. The artwork is not complete with the glass or grout alone. Only with the one relying on the other is the new creation possible.
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