MARTIN BLANK TOUR DE FORCE INSTALLATION: “IF A RIVER COULD TELL A STORY”

ON VIEW THROUGH 2022

ARTIST OF THE YEAR — Every year, Imagine Museum selects a contemporary artist to feature transcending glass sculptures that foster the appreciation of the artistic and expressive nature of glass. For 2022, Martin Blank was chosen as he is one of the premier figurative sculptors across the globe whose work distinctively expresses motion, sensuality, and the powerful resonance of human landscapes.

“Glass is the perfect vehicle for capturing light, motion, fluidity and transparency.” – Martin Blank

A CREATIVE COLLABORATION

Blank was commissioned to collaborate on a work of art for Imagine Museum with founder, Trish Duggan. They chose to create an environmental installation that would immerse the viewer into an ecosystem of light, reflection, form and motion creating a sense of reverence and awe. They entitled the piece “If a River Could Tell a Story”. The fluidity of motion contained in the work invites one on the journey of the river and self-discovery. Swipe >

This encounter encourages mindfulness, reflection and remembrance. The positive and negative spaces contained in the work delights as a rhythmic overtone to the experience. Blank’s abstracted figurative elements capture the symbolic references to devotion, harmony, goodwill and grace. As a river ebbs and flows, so too does the installation as it carries the viewer forward from the dynamic figurative forms to the organic configurations. This creative collaboration of form and color is intended to spark one’s imagination about the bold individuals throughout time that inspired our human spirit to soar to greater heights of compassion and understanding.

TOUR DE FORCE

Blank refers to this installation as a “tour de force”. It is comprised of 52 elements, is 8 feet tall, 13 feet in length and 3-8 feet in width. It’s sometimes figurative, sometimes organic, and sometimes fluid forms suggest and evoke a tender and benevolent dialogue between each element creating an installation that is inspiring, captivating and tremendously uplifting for all who encounter it. Swipe >

Blank’s work is about carving space, evoking a direct connection to natural forms. His most notable installations in the US are “Fluent Steps” at the Tacoma Museum of Glass and two monumental glass sculptures for the courtyard of the Four Seasons Hotel, NYC, NY. His work is represented in many acclaimed collections, galleries and museums.

AN INTUITIVE ARTIST

“I am an intuitive artist. I work on the way forms relate to each other to cut a line in space that flows, turns and carries the eye around the piece. The forms reveal a negative space that is as vital and potent as the actual objects. My sculptural work is as much about the void as the mass”– Martin Blank.

Martin Blank is an acclaimed American sculptor who currently resides in Seattle, WA. He worked on the Dale Chihuly team in the 1990s while bringing his infectious enthusiasm and courageous desire to push the material. He has continued creating his own dynamic and energetic contributions to the studio glass movement through exhibitions and challenging, robust installations throughout the last three decades.