lois white

Vass, North Carolina 28394

contemporary fused glass

artist statement

If the artist could describe in words what he does, then he would never have created it. 

words of Alfred Stieglitz

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1961, I then enrolled at the

Art School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts.  One of the instructors there quoted Emerson:  "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."  That line has been my reminder to experiment with various art media and design ideas.  Kiln formed glass is the latest in my progression from silversmithing in the sixties and seventies, to fiber art in the eighties and nineties, to glass in the last ten years.

I produce two types of work.  I make many functional items, mostly plates and serving dishes; these small pieces give me a chance to experiment with different glases, designs, and techniques.  My larger pieces contain several layers of glass requiring numerous firings at various temperatures in order to produce a bas-relief type surface texture.  I create mostly landscapes that combine organic and geometric elements.

My work is not meant to make political or intensely personal statements.  I abandoned that in the sixties.  My work is meant to be useful and, that most horrid word to artists, decorative.  I don't give my pieces philosophical names with long poetic descriptions.