Curator's Eye: The Rebirth of Venus

Venus Series, 2006, Glass, Mica, Enamel. 28”x16”.

Selected by Liz Cepanec, Visiting Artist Program Manager Curatorial Department, Museum of Glass

Diane Hansen’s art is a blend of feminine energy and classic beauty. Her childhood art instructor and mentor was the expatriate French Comtesse de la Lannae, whose rooms full of Louis XIV furniture, exotic art and lavish accessories first thrilled Diane as a young child in Anacortes, Washington. This early influence of abundance and gilded surfaces is a hallmark of Hansen’s sculptural glass and, in my mind, gives us a hint of the artist’s own exuberant personality.

Her latest body of work reflects the curvaceous form and beauty of one of art history’s most famous icons. The image of Botticelli’s Venus adorns the surface of her vessels; flecks of mica add luster and depth to the glass. The finished forms are graceful comments on femininity as well as on the artist’s skill with the medium of glass. — L.C.

To me, the physical nature of working with hot glass is as important as the finished work itself. The challenge of developing new techniques and incorporating new mediums in glass, such as photographs and mica, drives me to create works that are visually rich and technically challenging. —D.H.

Photo by Roger Schreiber