AUGUST 2022
CENTER GALLERY
Trending Towards Tapestry / A Changing Epoch | Rachael Juzeler
Trending Towards Tapestry / A Changing Epoch is an exhibit of my explorations in glass, mosaic and plastics. With my all-encompassing philosophy of creative reuse and working with processes having a high degree of experimentation, my art is reflective of the intense beauty found in the natural world and my surroundings of Southeast Alaska, while acknowledging and illuminating the societal problems of waste, industrial and plastic pollution and climate change. Entwining my research into herring, barnacles, cave paintings, improvisational quilts, plastic recycling and utilizing my continuing education and skills in glasswork; I have woven together an exhibit to elucidate these subjects.
This past year I have been trying to incorporate plastics into my glass work. As my artistic mentality revolves around the reworking of waste materials, I realized I needed to acknowledge the abundance of plastics in our environment. After many trials, I developed a way to spin twine from single-use plastic bags, creating a visually appealing material, and started using it in my work, creating nets and “weaving” with the twine. As well as focusing on single use plastics, I utilize materials I pick up off the beach, as marine debris is a compounding issue which will have a profound effect on all life as we know it. However, not everything is doom and gloom. Species will adapt and there still is wondrous natural phenomena which happens all around us.
I find beauty and inspiration in natural patterns. I explore these patterns using glass as my medium. Glass, as a material, is illuminating and reflecting, transparent and opaque, utilitarian and fanciful. Through the medium of kilned glass I explore these contradictions and relish opening the kiln to find how the material has transformed. Ever curious of how I can combine the natural beauty of glass with plastics has become my new flight of fancy.
I hope you enjoy my vision - - - - Rachael
