"Yellow Green Outside-In"
Blown Glass Bowl
6" H x 6 1/2" W x 6 1/2" D.
Michael Mikula
Michael Mikula is always looking up - examining the built environment for its patterns, forms, and details to spark his imagination. For more than two decades Michael has explored a process using multi-part graphite molds as a tool for introducing imagery into blown glass. He calls the resulting body of work which highlights the visual effects of positive and negative form "Architechtonic Blown Glass."
With a jazz-like sense of improvisation, Michael composes graphite molds from a large and growing library of interchangeable hand cut components. No two compositions are ever alike. After Michael prepares his unique mold compositions, he starts each blown form by capping the blow pipe with colored glass. He then "gathers" successively thicker layers of molten clear glass from the furnace until he has enough to fill the mold.
Standing above the mold, Michael drops the glass, still attached to the blow pipe, into the mold and puffs more air through the blow pipe into the molten glass. He then quickly removes the hardening glass form from the pipe, placing it into the annealing oven for a timed cooling process.
Once cooled, the resulting deeply dimensional blown forms are cut open, faceted and polished. The individual glass elements are thoughtfully recomposed within an integral metal armature of anodized aluminum and stainless steel. Michael designed this robust custom structural system so that it can be scaled for tabletop sculpture or larger site specific installations.
Michael says, "Think of a Louise Nevelson sculpture to imagine what a mold looks like as molten glass fills the form - taking its shape in reverse. My use of color is purposefully understated to focus attention on form and how the imagery and light is captured and reflected through the glass. My goal is that each piece be a well-designed and crafted object with integrity and lasting value."
Michael also continues to make a series of related functional and sculptural blown glass vessels. These were the genesis of his current sculptures and use the same graphite mold elements.
Education & Professional Preparation
1987 BFA, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH
1987 Traveling Scholarship Recipient, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH
1986 Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
1986 Pilchuck Glass School, Studying with Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick, Stanwood, WA
1988-1996 Junior Member, Benchmark Studio, with Brent Kee Young and Mark Sudduth, Cleveland, OH
1994 Creative Glass Center of America, Fellowship: One of four recipients selected from an international field of applicants for three months of self-directed creative exploration as artist in residence at CGCA, Millville, NJ
2002 July-August, Workshop on mosaic techniques and survey of architectural landmarks by Antoni Gaudi, Fundacio Centre del Vidre de Barcelona, Spain (school now defunct)
Current
Designer-craftsman of blown glass and sculpture, representing myself via juried fine art and fine craft festivals nationwide.
Selected Art Festivals & Awards
2012, 2013, & 2014 Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Summer Art Fair, First Place Award 2012, Kalamazoo, MI
2011, 2014 Palm Beach Fine Craft Show, Palm Beach, FL
2009-2014 Washington Craft Show, Collector's Award 2009, Washington, DC
2009, 2010, & 2014 Des Moines Art Festival, Best in Glass 2009, Des Moines, IA
2009, 2010, 2013 Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC
2008, 2009, 2010, 2014 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA
2008 Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
2007, 2009, 2010, & 2014 Lakefront Art Festival, Hosted by Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI
2006 & 2010 Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO
2003, 2007 Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Festival, Prize 2003 & 2007, Peoria, IL
2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, & 2014 Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, Award of Excellence Each Year, State College, PA
1990 - Current, American Craft Council Shows Atlanta, GA. Baltimore, MD. Charlotte, NC. San Francisco, CA. Sarasota, FL. St. Paul, MN.
1988 - 2012 Lakewood Arts Festival, Best of Show 2004 & 2009, Prize 2007, Lakewood, OH
Selected Invitational Exhibitions
2010 Ohio Glass Masters, Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH
2008 Ineffable Light, Two person show, Beachwood Arts Council Galleries, Beachwood, OH
2008 The Glass Menagerie, Corning, NY
2007 Best Of 2007, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH
Selected Collections and Commissions
2013 Pessus Residence, Moreland Hills, OH
2010 Bennis Residence, Beachwood, OH
2010 Carter Residence, Hastings, MN
2010 Bauman residence, Stockton, NY
2009 Hansford residence, Saint Louis, MO
2008 Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, OH
1994 Museum of American Glass, Millville, NJ
1990 Invacare Corporation, Elyria, OH
1989 St. Luke's Hospital Medical Library, Cleveland, OH
Grants
2009-2010 Creative Workforce Fellowship, One of twenty annual recipients of a 20K Cuyahoga Arts And Culture individual artist grant, Cuyahoga County, OH
Ohio Arts Council
2013 Award for Excellence
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