Glass artist Eryka Isaak creates a new sculptural fabric of glass and metal, expressed in 2D and 3D: thick sheets manipulated into rectilinear panes, large dishes and abstract standing and hanging sculptures. Metal scraps, bent wires and cute cut-outs look as if they are preserved in their glass encasement – inert but with earthy energy like pieces found in deep ground. In one or two sculptures, metal protrudes from the seal of the glass and reaches open air. This pierces through the appearance of the role of the glass as merely a canvas that situates the metal, integrating the two materials as a raw fabric.
Tree, and Black Stripe, Glass, copper, steel
Her presentational choices for the flat, 2D pieces allow this quality to be displayed. Some small panes are in wooden frames; the others hang alone or in groups by two cords running down through conduits built-in at either edge. This makes the latter pieces self-contained, frame-like in shape but standing free like their fellow 3D sculptures, as wholesome flat sculptures rather than pictures. Her play with framing highlights the purity of her craftsmanship, giving us space to appreciate the tactile process of the glass that was soft and the glass that is now concrete.
2 April 27-May 17
By Lily Glasser
Thanks for the interesting review