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Pilgrimage to Corning: Jay Musler’s Cityscape

Cityscape by Jay Musler
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Cityscape, Jay Musler, 1981. Blown, cut, sandblasting, airbrushing. H: 23.2 cm, Diam (max): 45.6 cm. (82.4.8), Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY. Photo by Wayne Stratz, 2014.

 

Stratoz and I made our Summer 2014 Pilgrimage to Corning Museum of Glass, and one of my favorite pieces was on display: Jay Musler’s Cityscape.  The first time we went to Corning in the early 1990s, I was smitten with this big orange bowl with the jagged edges.  The postcard has been with me ever since, and is now in my studio.

I discovered in reading more about this piece that Musler started with a sphere of blown industrial Pyrex glass, which he cut in half, and then sculpted the cityscape, sandblasted the surface and airbrushed with orange paint.  The diffused glow is one of the qualities that drew my eye, both intense and soft.  Photographing glass is a challenge that Stratoz and I know well with our own art.  A straight ahead photo may not capture the beauty of a piece, but there is beauty spilling out into reflections and shadows.  I love the way the Cityscape is reflected in the display case, like a sunset reflected in the sea.

More Corning goodness.

2 comments

  1. Ann Helbe says:

    Wow, I didn’t see the skyline of city buildings until I read your post.
    That is really interesting and artistic.

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