Fine Art
Dale Chihuly’s “Glass in Bloom”
Float Boat and Floats, 2014.
Image courtesy of: Little Day Out
Dale Chihuly’s new installation, Glass in Bloom, is one of his most beautiful shows to date. The rest of the world sees glass as fragile, and meant for the indoors. However the renowned glass artist sees the medium differently and for years, he has been exhibiting his colorful glass creations in many locations throughout the world.
Last summer, Chihuly’s first major exhibition in Asia opened… a true testament to the artist’s proficiency in the complicated medium. “Dale Chihuly: Glass in Bloom” is an impressive collection fifty years of his masterpieces.
“Ethereal White Persians,” 1986.
This series was previously part of an exhibition at Paris’ Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Palais du Louvre. The Serene Garden sculptures are especially striking in the evening when they are lit up and appear white.
Image courtesy of: Little Day Out
The exhibition is a collection of 25 of Chihuly’s pieces, in addition to 80 pedestal sculptures and two-dimensional works. The show was presented at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, a seaside park that is anchored by the Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, and many outdoor gardens.
The Bayfront Pavilion offers a walk-through display that is full of colorful sculptures which Chihuly designed in the 1980’s. The Macchia and Ikebana series are familiar to the artist’s longtime fans because of the eye-popping assortment of colors and the lifelike figures they represent.
A close-up of “Setting Sun.”
Image courtesy of: Tatler
The outdoor life-sized installations are the most impressive. For a “normal glassblower,” sculptures are solid and structured; yet Chihuly somehow manages to mold glass so that it appears organic and fluid. The crystalline shapes resemble petals, leaves, bulbs, and saplings as though in constant motion.
Twenty five of these pieces are scattered throughout the park grounds… some on a huge scale and others placed on a pedestal. One such example is “Setting Sun;” a piece made specifically for this exhibition by the eighty year old artist. The beauty of this sculpture is its counterpart, “Moon,” which is placed nearby for comparison purposes.
“Blue and Purple Boat” at the Victoria Lily Pond.
Image courtesy of: Chihuly
Some pieces are placed in off-the-beaten-path settings; perhaps it is Chihuly’s way of suggesting exploration to the world. Part of Chihuly’s excitement with the show was the unfamiliar location. The artist told The Straits Times, “I’m really excited about this exhibition. I love Singapore, and I love the gardens, I hope you enjoy the show.”
The artist lost sight in one eye and dislocated his shoulder following two accidents several years ago; as a result, he is not able to personally hand-craft his pieces. However his brilliant and dedicated team at Chihuly Studio in Seattle are more than able to put his artistic vision into perfect reality.
“Red Bamboo Reeds” on display (2020) at the Serene Garden.
Inmage courtesy of: Chihuly
Chihuly says that nature has always been a great source of inspiration for him; in such, the location for Glass in Bloom is perfectly fitting. Drawing inspiration from the world around him, Chihuly creates (courtesy of the Gardens by the Bay website) “statements using color and form to capture the imagination, and catapult beyond conventional ideas of function and beauty.”
