Glass Expressions
Glass Expressions: Diverse Visions in a Transparent Medium
Center for the Arts Evergreen
31880 Rocky Village Drive, Evergreen, CO 80439
June 5–July 5, 2025
Admission: free
Review by Paloma Jimenez
Summer brings a deluge of heat-induced sensations: cartoon head popsicles dripping with sticky sugar, parking lot mirages of lush oases, gusts of propane wind swirling from the grill, chrome car door handles hot to the touch. Glass Expressions: Diverse Visions in a Transparent Medium at the Center for the Arts Evergreen welcomes us into this season of the Sun’s fiery reign with a group of glass artists who sculpt with fantastical flexibility. Fire has a recent track record of mass destruction, but it is also vital for the sustenance of life and can be used to manipulate glass to dazzling creative effect. Glass Expressions reflects, refracts, and reimagines the mercurial energy of growth, both psychological and physical.
An installation view of the exhibition Glass Expressions: Diverse Visions in a Transparent Medium at Center for the Arts Evergreen. Image by Paloma Jimenez
Despite the vast array of work on view, the gallery space at Center for the Arts Evergreen still feels spacious; the glass sculptures become a constellation of colorful points of light, enhanced by the stained glass windows on one wall. Glass often resists being perceived as a solid, perhaps remembering the fluidity of a more heated state, and it takes a moment to adjust to the gently prismatic space.
Alex Ubatuba, Sands of Okinawa, borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Larger, multi-part works anchor the exhibition, starting with Alex Ubatuba’s Sands of Okinawa at the entrance. Inspired by the star-shaped protozoan shells that populate the shores of Okinawa, Japan, the cluster of frosted forms feels both alien and primordial. Like the twinkling trail of a wizard’s magic wand, the puffy stars set the stage for an enlightening journey through natural and imagined worlds.
Emily Kuchenbecker, Alpenglow, soft glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Emily Kuchenbecker captures the colorful romance between the Sun and the horizon in the optical confection that is Alpenglow. [1] Dimpled globular shapes hold the entire exhibition within their mirrored surfaces. The piece inhabits a liminal state of matter, spreading across the wall with the playful chaos of water droplets, but also poised to inflate and disperse into the air.
Kaelyn McGowen, The Nest, neon and glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Gas collaborates with glass to form the neon works in the show, such as Kaelyn McGowen’s The Nest. Against the pink iridescent base, a glowing symbol rises out of a tie-dye smear. The neon tube drawing is equally figurative and architectural. It’s a welcoming sculpture—a beckoning sign to stay a while and let your spirit grow.
An installation view of small works in the exhibition Glass Expressions: Diverse Visions in a Transparent Medium at Center for the Arts Evergreen. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Many more works in the exhibition bend into figurative representations that explore the vastly sculptural universe of bongs and pipes, which is largely overlooked in the fine art world. Almost any shape can become a vessel for inhaling weed. But these detailed sculptures are galaxies away from the trite souvenirs found in Freaky’s Head Shop and the pieces harken back to a more ceremonial treatment of drugs.
Shayla Windstar, Ayahuasca Guardian, borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Shayla Windstar’s Ayahuasca Guardian serenely gazes forward with its golden jaguar eyes. The earthy alien looks fresh out of a mossy log and ready to illuminate your path towards ancient wisdom.
CalM, Fountain of Youth, borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Fountain of Youth by CalM inhabits a similar world of vaguely unsettling whimsy. The balloon-legged bird body morphs into an ashtray, topped with a banana hut. An oversized spigot offers a route for airflow. It’s an odd piece, alluringly dissonant.
Sibelley and Coldberger, Bayside Shiva, borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Other pieces exude a more stylized harmony. Sibelley and Coldberger present a group of lithe figures in the juicy color palette of Jolly Ranchers left to melt in the passenger seat on a sunny summer afternoon. Bayside Shiva reaches out in all directions while balancing atop a convergence of geometric forms. Much like the entity of Shiva, the piece masters dichotomy.
Matt Robertson, Ricky Gir-vase, borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Across the gallery, Matt Robertson’s weird and wonderful Ricky Gir-vase stands tall. Pink pairs well with the frosted spots of the giraffe's body. Elegant and humorous, it’s the exact thing you might find amidst the overgrown monstera plants in an eccentric widow’s Upper East Side apartment.
Artist Stylie, Dreg the Wild Thing, hand-carved borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Pattern play is also present in the group of hand-carved vessels by Artist Stylie. Dreg the Wild Thing, a stout creature cup with eyes closed—perhaps focusing on meditative breathwork or partaking in a puff—combines Pueblo pottery designs with Maurice Sendak’s mythology. This friendly figure could be a new entry in a modern illuminated bestiary.
Sibelley, Lattice Hinged Choker, borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Works by Hallie Cat, borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
On the smallest end of the scale, you’ll find marbles, miniature sculptures, pendants, and even a glass latticework necklace. Hallie Cat’s covert dupes of luxury handbags, such as the Birkin Bag in Vert Anglais, can fit inside a weathered coin purse. At this modest scale, they resemble padlocks with contents forever locked inside.
Nathan Miers, from left to right: Nu-Classic “Dragon Mission” (41mm), borosilicate glass; Nu-Classic “We Out Here” (51 mm), borosilicate glass; Nu-Classic “UFO Convergence” (39mm), borosilicate glass. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
The lampwork glass marbles on view ignite an impulsive urge to collect them all. Nathan Miers Nu-Classic marbles depict a zoomed out view of the Universe, speckled with spacecrafts, planets, stars, and swirls of colors. These are contemplative orbs for a playful philosopher pondering the Universe.
Adam Grafuis, Trees of Evergreen, 3-dimensional contour drawing made from borosilicate glass with locally found object. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Adam Grafuis presents the quietest piece in the exhibition. In Trees of Evergreen, a gentle squiggle of green Borosilicate glass sprouts out of a flat rock, as if drawn by the wind. It serves as a reminder that growth is ephemeral, yet also eternal.
An installation view of Glass Expressions: Diverse Visions in a Transparent Medium at Center for the Arts Evergreen. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Call it alchemy or call it magic, the tender, trippy imagination and technical prowess on view in Evergreen will transport you to a softer realm. Glass Expressions glints with refreshing optimism—an increasingly fragile perspective to hold in one’s heart these days.
Paloma Jimenez (she/her) is an Editorial Coordinator at DARIA and an artist, writer, and teacher. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and has been featured in international publications. She received her BA from Vassar College and her MFA from Parsons School of Design.
[1] Alpenglow is the “reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of mountains.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alpenglow.
