PRINTEmpty nest set to take flight
Local artist builds human-sized glass sculpture for exhibit
Alex Lewis
Susan Taylor Glasgow with her artwork in her Columbia studio. Glasgow will complete a residency and exhibition in Pittsburgh, where she will be debuting her latest project, The Communal Nest.
May 22, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Springtime has set in. The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, and birds are singing. Although the time is right for these chirping creatures to leave the nest from which they hatched, one creature has just now started building a new one: Susan Taylor Glasgow.
The Columbia glass artist calls her latest project The Communal Nest. After an eight-week residency at the Pittsburgh Glass Center that begins in August, she will present her human-sized nest as part of her upcoming “Absence of Body” exhibition. “Susan had taught two workshops for us in the summer of 2007,” says Heather McElwee, assistant director at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, “so we were already familiar with her and her work and were thrilled when she proposed an interesting project for a residency and exhibition.”
After going through several different designs, Glasgow settled on this model as the basis of ...
The piece, which is expected to be 8 feet wide and 2 feet high when completed, will be made of hundreds of crystal-clear glass twigs created by Glasgow, the Pittsburgh Glass Center and artists from around the world.
“When I was offered my residency in Pittsburgh, I had already been working on a series of bird pieces in my mind,” Glasgow says. “I had the concept of the ‘bluebird of happiness’ and setting that bird free. The idea boiled down to a glass nest.”
When it comes to symbolism, this nest is anything but empty, though. “I decided that there needed to be something inside so the idea was a glass-cast pillow with an indention, as if somebody had just left the nest,” Glasgow says.
About five other works will accompany Glasgow’s communal nest, all reflecting the “Absence of Body” theme. Profits will go toward the the Pittsburgh Glass Center and the Bethlehem Haven women’s shelter in Pittsburgh, whose mission is to provide homeless women with care that will lead them to self-dependency.
“We thought it was a very interesting and selfless idea that Susan came up with,” McElwee says. “The idea of the nest lent itself to speak about shelter and safety, so it was a natural partnership.”
Glasgow hopes to establish a connection with women at the shelter through her project. “I hope to be touched by what I’ve learned, and I hope they will be also,” she says. “I’d love to have some of the women come to my studio and make their own twigs to contribute to the nest.”
Glasgow began with a knowledge of sewing and an interest in stained glass. She combined these two to craft a career as a glass artist that has lasted about 15 years. “I always loved stained glass,” she says. “I traded sewing a bridesmaid dress for stained glass lessons with a neighbor of mine in college.”
For 12 years, Glasgow owned a sewing shop called On Pins and Needles in Columbia and, before that, another in Iowa City for five years. However, she changed mediums from threads to glass because the latter represented more of a challenge. “Glass, the way I use it, is unyielding,” she says. “When I’m putting together an object, it either fits or it doesn’t. With sewing, you could always stretch something out or put a dart in it to make it fit, but with glass it’s a challenge.”
For Glasgow, building the nest is something that continually occupies her mind. To complete it, she will create approximately 200 large twigs herself, which will involve 40 firings with five twig molds. But she says the rigorous work, which sometimes demands working late into the night, is all worth it. “It’s an interesting process that I hadn’t anticipated,” she says, “but if you have an idea you feel strongly about, you just can’t wait.”
When its Pittsburgh exhibition ends in early 2009, Glasgow is hopeful The Communal Nest won’t be stuck in its tree. Her goal is for the nest to travel from community to community, with more twigs added as it moves.
“One of the best things about inviting artists to make new work at the studio is getting to see them go through the creative process from idea to creation and to engage them in a dialogue with other students and professionals who are working in our studio,” McElwee says. “Already I know Susan is a very collaborative person, so I am sure her work will take on many different facets as the project evolves and includes more and more input from different sources.”
