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Nicole Chesney’s Exquire at Gallery NAGA, Boston
Nicole Chesney’s Exquire at Gallery NAGA, Boston
May 2025
BOSTON, MA – April 10, 2025 – Gallery NAGA is delighted to announce its fourth major solo exhibition of paintings by the acclaimed artist Nicole Chesney. Nicole Chesney: Exquire will be on view from May 2 to May 31, 2025, at Gallery NAGA in Boston.
Exquire showcases a compelling new body of work that explores the transformative qualities of glass as a painting surface. Chesney masterfully adds, subtracts, and moves oil paint around the glass, creating a dynamic interplay of color and reflection. Unlike traditional canvas, the glass surface allows for unique optical effects, where colors are reflected in unexpected ways. Chesney’s innovative approach pushes the boundaries of traditional painting by exploring complex relationships between the inherent luminosity and reflectiveness of glass and the applied paint color, resulting in nuanced and shifting visual experiences. This invites viewers to engage with the artwork from multiple perspectives and in different lighting conditions. In works such as Vivida, this is particularly evident in the subtle yet captivating shifts in color as the viewer’s viewpoint changes. The resulting atmospheric quality in her work often evokes the subtle gradations and transient beauty of weather phenomena, from hazy light to the crispness after a storm.
The new paintings in Exquire are confident and exciting, conveying depth and illusion through Chesney’s varied and expressive strokes. Notably, and for the very first time, two of the paintings in this exhibition take on a tondo form, a circular format historically significant in art, particularly during the Renaissance. Chesney was compelled to transform her composition within this classical structure. Furthermore, Chesney’s use of multi-panel formats recalls the visual storytelling seen in chapel altarpieces and devotional art. This creates a feeling of interconnectedness and an immersive experience for the viewer.
Nicole Chesney’s work has garnered international recognition and is held in numerous prestigious permanent collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, New Britain Museum of American Art, Toledo Museum of Art, Newport Art Museum, RISD Museum, Palm Springs Art Museum, Corning Museum of Glass, and manymore.
A reception and walk-through with the artist will be held at the gallery on Saturday, May 3, at 1:00 PM. The public is warmly invited to attend and meet the artist.
Gallery Information: Gallery NAGA 67 Newbury Street Boston MA 02116 mail@gallerynaga.com 617-267-9060 gallerynaga.com
Images of all work on exhibition can be seen at gallerynaga.com.
New England Home
New England Home, May / June 2023
Here & There by Erika Ayn Finch
Courtesy of New England Home, www.nehomemag.com
Newport Biennial 2022
Newport Art Museum, Newport, Rhode Island
Newport Biennial 2022
January 8, 2022 – May 29, 2022
Opening Reception
The art and artists of the Newport Biennial will be celebrated at an opening reception on Friday, February 11 from 5-7pm.
The juried exhibition is one of the Newport Art Museum’s longest standing traditions. For over 30 years, it has included an array of works of art in all media. Now called “The Newport Biennial,” this exhibition features the work of New England artists and showcases the fresh approaches to art making in the region. After the events of 2020 and 2021, we hope that this is an opportunity for everyone to celebrate the resilience and creativity of today’s artists.
This year’s juror is Dr. Kimberli Gant, the McKinnon Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum. She has held curatorial positions at the Newark Museum, The Contemporary Austin, and the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art. She has curated numerous exhibitions including Brendan Fernandes: Bodily Forms, Multiple Modernisms, Wondrous Worlds: Art & Islam through Time & Place, and De-Luxe. Kimberli holds Art History degrees from the University of Texas Austin, Columbia University, and Pitzer College.
Featured Artists: Penny Ashford, Jillian Barber, Meris Barreto, Reenie Barrow, Rebecca Boxx, Nicole Browning, Wendy Brusick, Semaj Campbell, Howard Cannon, Rick Catallozzi, Diana Cheren Nygren, Nicole Chesney, Alexandra Chiou, Daniel Clayman, Birchfield Coffey, Nicholas Costopoulos, Robin Crocker, Sonja Czekalski, James Dye, Katie Dye, Deb Ehrens, Bethany Engstrom, Jamaal Eversley, Natalie Featherston, Mark Fernandez, Gail Fischer, Carol FitzSimonds, Ira Garber, Natasha Harrison, Anna Hitchcock, Kathy Hodge, Peter Hussey, Erica Licea-Kane, Rebecca Klementovich, Peter Landry, Scott Lapham, Elizabeth Lind, Pascale Lord, Saberah Malik, Kristen Mallia, Susan Mead Matthews, Eileen McCarney Muldoon, Nick McKnight, Heather McMordie, Chil Mott, Paul M. Murray, Kat O’Connor, Hillel O’Leary, Stephanie Osser, Agustín Patiño, Elizabeth K. Peña-Alvarez, Ponnapa Prakkamakul, Ellen Pratte, Mariana Ramos Ortiz, Suzanne Révy, Nina Ruelle, Lilla Samson, Ellen Schiffman, Janice Smyth, Derrick A Te Paske, Julie Angela Theresa, Lisa May Tobin, Carrie Usmar, Nadya Volicer, Jennifer Walker, David Weyermann, Mark Wholey, and Caren Winnall.
photo by Michael Rose
Read Michael Rose’s complete review here.
Neues Glas New Glass
Neues Glas New Glass No. 3/2021
From Pedestal to Wall: An Interview with Dr. Sven Hauschke
Courtesy of Neus Glas / New Glass www.neuesglas-newglass.com
European Museum
European Museum of Modern Glass, Coburg, Germany Acquisition and Exhibition
From Pedestal to Wall – On the Positioning of Works of Art in Glass
April 23, 2021 to November 7, 2021
In the early days of the studio glass movement, glass artists almost exclusively made objects that stood protected in glass display cabinets. In the 1980s, glass sculptures conquered the elevated pedestal. For a good ten years now, more and more artworks have emerged that require a wall to be displayed. This is no coincidence. Because this development runs parallel to the establishment of glass as a material in art. The special exhibition is dedicated to the phenomenon that works of art are created for a specific place.
On display are 30 objects from the 1970s to the present. The range of techniques and themes is broad: visitors can see early decorative glass works and objects that explore optical phenomena and work with light and reflections. Alongside works that tell stories and convey messages, there are also landscapes and abstract murals. Classical stained glass, which is often architecture-related, is excluded.
Works of art from the museum’s own collection as well as selected loans from artists will be presented, including works by Carl Bens, Nicole Chesney, Hartmann Greb, Jens Gussek, Palo Macho, Heinz Mack, Uta Majmudar, Gerhard Ribka, Renato Santarossa, Verona Schatz, Keiyona C. Stumpf, Veronika Suter, Harry Zengeler and Jeff Zimmer
Art New England
Art New England Profile
By Elizabeth Maynard
July / August 2021
New Britain Museum of American Art
New Britain Museum of American Art Acquisition and Exhibition
Permanent Collection Installation: Recent Gifts and Acquisitions
Show runs Thursday, June 17, 2021 — Sunday, July 25, 2021
The New Britan Museum of American Art is thrilled to present a selection of acquisitions and gifts that have entered the Museum’s collections in the last five years, currently on view throughout our second floor in Robert and Dorothy Vance Gallery, Stitzer Family Gallery, and nearby A.W. Stanley Gallery. These works, many on view for the first time, span over 100 years of American art history and reflect a multitude of important art historical periods and figures. Artists featured are both internationally recognized and locally beloved, and include Milton Avery, Joan Snyder, Elizabeth Catlett, Jim Dine, Abraham Rattner, Cauleen Smith, Betye Saar, Shantell Martin, Carol Summers, Leonard Everett Fischer, Kara Walker, Paul Baylock, Carrie Mae Weems, Eric Aho, Joseph McNamara, Nicole Chesney, Stephanie Syjuco, Martine Gutierrez, and many others.
In Stitzer Family Gallery, numerous works by Pop artists and printmakers Jim Dine, Carol Summers, and Gordon Mortensen are on view thanks to the generosity of Dr. Paul M. Kanev, who has long supported these artists. Celebrated Connecticut-based artist and illustrator Leonard Everett Fischer is represented by his surreal painting Arizonascape, 1998, gifted by the Artist. The Museum is also debuting MADRID INTERIOR (Portrait of Antonio López García), 2015 by Joseph McNamara, donated by Gail and Ernst von Metzsch in 2019. In A.W. Stanley Gallery, also on the second floor, a suite of early Milton Avery landscape paintings gifted by Russell N. Shenstone in 2017 are being shown together for the first time, in dialogue with several mature work by Avery.
Purchases on view include numerous works that were acquired as part of the Museum’s 2020/20+Women @ NBMAA initiative dedicated to increasing representation of women in the arts. These include prints, photographs, and sculptures by Betye Saar, Elizabeth Catlett, Carrie Mae Weems, Ana Mendieta, Martine Gutierrez, and the Guerrilla Girls, among many others. With these and other purchases made in 2020 and 2021, the NBMAA has increasingly reflected the diversity of our community and nation, doubling the number of Black and African American female artists and tripling the number of Latin American female artists represented in our permanent collection.
We extend our profound gratitude to those who are able to support the New Britain Museum of American Art through invaluable donations of acquisition funds or artworks that expand and strengthen our collection and provide us with the ability to tell a richer and more nuanced history of American art in our galleries. We are honored to present these and other recent additions to the collection, for the benefit and enjoyment of our Museum visitors for generations to come.
NIGHT VISION:NOCTURNAL MUSINGS BY NAGA ARTISTS
Violet Nocturne 2, 2019 by Nicole Chesney is a deliberate attempt to evoke the feeling of moodiness and the deep range of tones associated with the night sky. Wisps of paint sit atop a surface of glass – absorbing rather than reflecting its surroundings.
Since we aren’t having a reception tonight for Night Vision: Nocturnal Musings by NAGA Artists we thought it best to share this cocktail recipe that was inspired by our exhibition.
The Nightcrawler by The Industrious Spirits Company
- Into your favorite cocktail glass full of crushed ice (if you have the means) or just regular ice (if you don’t)
- Add 2 oz ISCO Structural Vodka
- 1/2 oz Fernet Branca
- Top with your favorite cola. We like Mexican Coke, Moxie or Maine Root Root Beer.
Then, sip and ponder the questions that only the night can answer.
Enjoy!
Naga Announcement
gallery naga
Although Gallery NAGA remains closed, Nicole Chesney’s new paintings are installed in her studio in Rhode Island (aka NAGA South).
If you are considering a painting we would be happy to provide additional photos and videos or discuss a studio visit that aligns with Rhode Island’s Department of Health’s safety guidelines.
photos: Studio DTW
“I was trying to find a creative way to hold up our postcard-sized Rick Fox paintings to show scale without showing my disastrous quarantine fingernails. Here is one sitting in a Magnolia tree… nature’s easel!! They looked beautiful bouncing in the wind.” (see a video here)
–Andrea
“When I told Nicole Chesney about a dream I had – a yellow painting glowing from inside a public space – I never thought she’d make it come to life and then surprise me with it. It took a year, but I finally used the extra time I had on Mother’s Day, to install it. It was worth the wait; it makes me smile at every point in my day.”
– Meg
| Here’s Andrea checking on the gallery wearing a cyanotype mask made by our artist, Jaclyn Kain. Newbury Street was a ghost town! Our next online-only exhibition, Peter Vanderwarker’s “Vanderwarker’s Cities,” will launch on Friday, June 5, at 10 am at www.gallerynaga.com. For inquiries please email mail@gallerynaga.com or leave a message at 617-267-9060. We hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy. We miss you! |
Nicole Chesney’s Current, Gallery Naga Online-Only Exhibition
Nicole Chesney’s Current Online-Only Exhibition at Gallery NAGA
Specular, 2020
Oil painting on acid-etched and mirrored glass
68 inches by 64 inches by 1 inches
Glint, 2020
Oil painting on acid-etched and mirrored glass
60 inches by 54 inches by 1.5 inches
view at www.gallerynaga.com
view at www.artsy.net
Gallery Naga Press Release
Gallery NAGA Press Release
Nicole Chesney: Current
May 1 – 30 at Gallery NAGA
To mark the beginning of another month in this surreal time, Gallery NAGA will present the third solo exhibition of glowing, ephemeral paintings by Nicole Chesney.
Nicole Chesney’s abstract paintings are oil paint on acid-etched and mirrored glass. The title of the show, Current, is defined as, “belonging to the present time,” as well as “a body of water, air, or electricity moving in a definite direction.” Current continues Chesney’s endless wondering with notions of sky and water and investigations of perception.
Chesney is a student of color, always within reach in her studio is Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Weather and The National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky. Darwin used Abraham Werner’s book to describe his discoveries and color observations on HMS Beagle voyage, which included the Galapagos Archipelago. Chesney is also on a journey, her discoveries about color in her paintings. Each of her works is like a new look at a familiar animal. A deliberate nod to the influence of Werner is made in the titles of Verditer and Verditer Green. Werner’s spelling is actually “verditter,” while Chesney has opted for the more contemporary spelling. These two paintings are also Chesney’s first explorations of green mirrors.
Werner was a mineralogist and geologist. Early in his career he published the first textbook on descriptive mineralogy. Having started as a jeweler’s apprentice, Chesney feels the allure of rare and precious gems. The recognition of this shared desire is especially apparent in Azure and Beryl. Azure comes to English from a poorly translated Arabic word meaning lapis lazuli. The word beryl is derived from the Latin beryllus, which referred to a “precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone.” Each Chesney painting speaks of color, but also about substance: Mother of Pearl in the reflective whites, sea foam in the blues, and reflective metals in the dark tones. Chesney’s paintings create a meditative repose on color and space where the viewer may rest from the other hopes and desires clamoring for attention in our current tumultuous world.
Chesney’s work is exhibited and collected internationally including the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, New Britain Museum of American Art, The Newport Art Museum, RISD Museum, Palm Springs Art Museum, The Corning Museum of Glass and many more.
Luceo Commission
Miri in Private Residence
Luxe Design
Luxe. Interiors + Design
Blush silk velvet from Jim Thompson Fabrics covers the walls in the foyer, which is furnished with a channel-back settee from Hickory Furniture. Created using layers of oil paint on etched mirrored glass, the artwork by Nicole Chesney is from Gallery NAGA in Boston.
Culture Abounds In An Urban Northeast Getaway
By Tate Gunnerson
May 6, 2019
A Renaissance couple: There’s no better way to describe the husband and wife who hired designer Lisa Tharp to renovate their recently purchased, turn-of-the century urban apartment in the Northeast. In fact it was their passion for literature, science and art that guided Tharp’s concept. “This was an opportunity to showcase who they are–to reflect their intellect and quiet sophistication,” Tharp says. “In every room, there’s something to stimulate conversation and inspire curiosity.”
Read more here.
More of Lisa Tharp’s designs here.
New York Times
Nicole Chesney mentioned in The New York Times
A Couple with a Glass-Filled House (No Stones, Please)
By Warren Strugatch
December 31, 2018
HEAD OF THE HARBOR, N.Y. — Harlan and Olivia Fischer discovered fine art in the early 1990s, an unexpected consequence of Mr. Fischer’s Jeep having been struck by a drunken driver and totaled.
Although his injuries were minor, Mr. Fischer, a financial planner, said the crash required him to undergo extensive rehab and got him thinking. “I realized that, had I been killed, I wouldn’t have left much of an imprint” outside of business, he said.
After the accident, the Fischers, of Head of the Harbor, N.Y., threw themselves into volunteer work for organizations including the Smithtown Township Arts Council. Mrs. Fischer retired early from her job in human resources at Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and devoted more time to these pursuits. By the mid-90s they were regularly purchasing works by painters they met through the arts council, including Agnes de Bethune and John Dorish.
They still buy oils and acrylics in styles ranging from Abstract Expressionism to photorealism. But one day in 1995, on a visit to a friend in nearby Nissequogue who’d remodeled his garage around his growing glass collection, they found a new focus. “The minute the two of us saw his glass art, we thought it was great,” Mrs. Fischer said.
Several weeks later they visited the Heller Gallery in Manhattan and bought their first glass object, “Solar Gray” by Michael Taylor, which consists of clear and black shardlike shapes radiating outward; it’s currently displayed in their bedroom.
The Fischers bought four or five more pieces over the next several weeks and didn’t stop there. In 2005, having run out of space, they commissioned a 2,000-square-foot addition to their contemporary home.
Their collection today exceeds 200 works and features artists including Lino Tagliapietra, Zora Pavlova, Dan Dailey and Laura Donefer.
The Fischers, who have no children, say they plan to give their collection to a museum someday, possibly a local one — “So we can see it when we want to,” Mr. Fischer said. In the meantime, Mrs. Fischer said, they continue to acquire pieces with a goal of upgrading their glass objects.
Mr. Fischer is a board member of various glass collectors’ groups, and the couple are founding members of the Ennion Society of benefactors at the Corning Museum of Glass.
They discussed their collection in a visit to their home on Long Island’s North Shore. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.
This is quite a collection! How have you built it?
HARLAN FISCHER I find I either like a piece or I don’t. Generally I like pieces that are scaled large and display intense color. When Olivia and I started collecting glass, the feeling was similar to how I felt in high school when I discovered jazz. I heard a record of John Coltrane playing “My Favorite Things.” Epiphany!
OLIVIA FISCHER One of my favorites is “Aver 4,” by Nicole Chesney. To me it is bold and vibrant, at the same time ethereal with mysterious depth.
How do you acquire most of the art here?
MRS. FISCHER Most of our collection comes from galleries. We go to the SOFA [Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design] exhibition almost every year. And a few pieces are purchased from friends.
MR. FISCHER We try not to walk into galleries as strangers. We usually acquire works by established artists. We listen to suggestions, too.
It must be challenging to move some of these pieces, yet you do it.
MR. FISCHER When we built the addition, we needed to move “Spiral of Life” [by Ivana Houserova] to a place between our dining room and our new gallery. We contacted Jitka Pokorna, who owned the gallery in Prague where we bought the piece. Coincidentally, she and her staff were about to fly to the SOFA exhibition in Chicago and were stopping over in Newark. We had a car pick them up at Newark and bring them here. That afternoon the four of them disassembled the piece, moved it, and reassembled it. It weighs at least 450 pounds.
How much does such a housecall cost?
MR. FISCHER They didn’t charge me anything. We had gotten several pieces from Jitka. Actually we got more pieces from her than anybody. When they were here, I asked what they wanted to eat and they all said “pizza” in unison. I guess the only word they all knew in English was pizza.
Did you get them pizza?
MR. FISCHER Yeah, I had pies delivered from a local place. They all chowed down. They stayed overnight and flew out to Chicago the next day.
Limina in Private Residence
Palm Springs Art Museums Must-Sees, includes Chesney Piece
Palm Springs Art Museum: Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism
“Vesper” by Nicole Chesney 2007. Inspired by the light of a desert landscape at dusk, her piece is a mesmerizing yet technical work combining glass, oil paint and aluminum. From the description, Chesney “superimposes sheer layers of color and after an intense and often arduous process of applying and removing layers of paint, the artist examines each finished layer and how it reacts to light. Through this process a quality materializes that communicates a sense of wonder similar to that felt when witnessing the natural phenomena itself.”
GSC in/Paris
Read more here.
Smithsonian American Art Museum Acquisition
Smithsonian American Art Museum Acquisition
Oil painting on acid-etched and mirrored glass
36 inches by 82 inches by 1 inch
Acquired in 2018 by Smithsonian American Art Museum
It is a tremendous honor to share the news of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s acquisition of my painting, Somnio. This acquisition was made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph Chazan. Words fall short of how meaningful this is to me and the depth of my gratitude.
Wheeler Table
Welkin at the Wheeler School
Cerno
Vesper
Present
Listen to The Corning Museum of Glass audio guide for Present
MFA Boston
Nicole Chesney’s Mirari at Gallery NAGA, Boston
Nicole Chesney’s Mirari at Gallery NAGA, Boston
October 2014
Gallery NAGA is pleased to present our first major solo exhibition of paintings by Nicole Chesney, whose work is currently featured in a show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Landscape Abstracted.
Nicole Chesney: Mirari is on exhibition from October 10 to November 8. A reception for the artist and the public will be held at the gallery on Friday, October 10 from 6 to 8 pm.
Chesney is an abstract painter who uses flat sheets of glass as her surface. She began her non-traditional work with glass after having studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts, the Massachusetts College of Art and finally the Canberra School of Art at Australia National University. Never interested in sculpting glass, Chesney used the medium as a jumping off point for her paintings. After taking classes in jewelry and print-making, she explored the material of glass for its ability to manipulate light. “I didn’t study painting,” says Chesney. “Like jewelry, my love affair with glass has to do with [its] precious, desirous qualities that really boil down to light.”
In a 2014 issue of Glass Quarterly, Leah Triplett writes about Chesney. “Her glass works are gesture-driven tableaus that explore the parameters of perception as well as the relationship of light and darkness to the human eye. She expands this concentration by playing with the psychology of desire as it is manifested in materials, be they diamonds or cut glass.”
The title of Chesney’s show at NAGA is Mirari, a latin word meaning to marvel at or wonder. Glass, with all its transformative qualities, is a surface onto which Chesney can add, subtract, and move oil paint around. The difference lies in the reflective quality of glass. Seen from one angle, her painting surfaces are matte and brushy, seen from another angle, they are reflective and elusive. Chesney is loading the surface with paint, then wiping away to reveal the layers beneath. She does this multiple times to create sheer layers. The glass itself is etched so that it has a tooth, or uneven quality that can grab and hold whatever oil is applied.
Chesney’s paintings are divided between saturated, warm tones of purple, peach, and red, and cooler tones of blues, greens and whites. Chesney uses her layers of feathery, light brushstrokes to create smooth gradients from thick to translucent and from light to dark. Her brushstrokes leave traces of circular or criss-crossing paths on the surface of the glass.
Chesney recently completed large commissioned pieces that were installed at 7 World Trade Center in New York and the public space at the newresidence hall at Massachusetts College of Art. Leah Triplett, in writing for Glass Quarterly, writes about Chesney’s commissioned work:
“In my work, I’ve deliberately chosen mirrors that have etched surfaces,” explains Chesney. “There’s a lot of metaphor in that for me, about introspection, about not really being able to be objective about who we are.” The “we” that constitutes Chesney’s audience is cut from a wide swath of the public and includes schoolchildren, bankers, construction crews, and elite collectors. No matter their background, the visages of Chesney’s viewers shift with changes in light and perspective, which universalizes her audience as much as it particularizes the individual. These works betray the artist’s hand in their heavily worked surfaces, but beckon the viewer past Chesney’s gesture and into a reflective plane in which the viewer sees themselves as meditated by the gaze of another.
Images of all work on exhibition can be seen at gallerynaga.com.
New Glass Review 35
MassArt Kariros Announcement
MassArt Kariros Announcement
It is a great pleasure to share the news of my latest commission for The Massachusetts College of Art’s new 22story Residence Hall on Boston’s Huntington Avenue. Some of you may know that I have been through several rounds of submissions, proposals and interviews since last June as part of the commission selection process. Well, it is now official my proposal has been selected as the winner! “Kairos” will be a site specific and permanent installation in the lobby. As depicted below, “Kairos” measures 11 feet high by 99 feet long and will be installed by September 2012. Below are 2 conceptual renderings as well as a brief description and excerpt from the proposal. I look forward to sharing the progress of this milestone project with you all.
Thank you and warmest regards,
-Nicole
Kairos at MassArt
The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, kairos signifies a time in between, a moment or undetermined period of time in which something special happens. What that is depends on who is using the word. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature. In Panathenaicus, Isocrates writes that educated people are those “who manage well the circumstances which they encounter day by day, and who possess a judgment which is accurate in meeting occasions as they arise and rarely misses the expedient course of action”. Kairos is also
very important in Aristotle’s scheme of rhetoric. Kairos is, for Aristotle, the time and space context in which the proof will be delivered. Kairos also means weather in both ancient and Modern Greek. Additionally, in plural, it is kairoi and means “the times”.
The main wall of the lobby is ideally suited for wall-mounted artwork thus providing a focal point for a space that serves simultaneously as an entry area, a gathering place, and passageway.
Comprised of laminated glass panels installed at an angle within the three-inch sill in front of a reflective, mirror-like wall, Kairos plays upon several suggestive references in its physical installation. The serial imagery of an accordion book, the gentle angle of an open book’s spine and the structure of a lenticular lens all influence the rhythm of the glass panels. A lenticular lens produces an image with the illusion of depth or an image that appears to change or move when viewed from different angles. Only glass transmits light in such a dynamic and captivating manner- no other single material can convey such a range of qualities as reflection, luminosity, translucence and brilliance. The use of mirror conjures an equally rich spectrum of notions like desire, introspection, revelation and longing. Kairos captures fleeting moments of light over time and embodies the qualitative nature of one’s experience at MassArt.
The Selection Committee resonated with the aesthetic and content of my work, intended mode of construction and sensitivity to placement conveyed by this proposal, and the result will be a truly sitespecific public artwork created with respect and sensitivity to its environment. Framed by the glass curtain wall, this site offers the unique opportunity for multiple vantage points making the best use of the building design and natural light while being equally captivating at night. Kairos is at once a buoyant threshold through which residents pass and an ever-changing play of light and color experienced by those traveling along Huntington Avenue.
Art New England
Art New England
Corning Museum Of Glass
Contemporary Glass Sculptures and Panels: Selections from the Corning Museum of Glass
Published 2008
Collectors Mention Chesney in Palm Springs Life
“David and Glenn travel the world looking at glass,” Hough says. “When they discover an artist in a gallery or at a museum, they research and, if possible, meet the artist. They are passionate about following an artist’s career. For example, Nicole Chesney is an artist whose work they saw in Australia, even though Nicole is an American. She attended the Canberra School of Art of the Australian National University. David and Glenn acquired one work and met the artist. When [they established the museum’s] glass center, they offered funds to commission a piece and suggested Nicole. Vesper is the name of the commissioned work.
Read more here.
NetWorks 2009
Networks 2009
Nicole Chesney relays the experience of air and water and their union in abstract sweeping swaths of color. The writing of French philosopher Gaston Bachelard, who believed it the artist’s job to convey a profound sense of wonder, inspires her poetic imagery. Chesney received her undergraduate education at CCAC in California and at the Massachusetts College of Art and holds an MA from the Canberra School of Art of the Australian National University.
New Glass Review 27
New Glass Review 26
Solo Exhibition at Gallery Sklo in Korea
Nicole Chesney’s sky / water at Gallery Sklo, Seoul, Korea
April 2005
Nicole Chesney became the first glass artist to receive a solo exhibition in Korea. Sponsored by the United States Embassy, Seoul, Korea
Corning Museum of Glass
Corning Museum of Glass
ARTISTIC FLAT GLASS, as a category, is not easy to define. It includes stained glass windows and painted, engraved, and textured walls that relate to architecture, and these are typically categorized as architectural glass. Where the classification of architectural glass fails is in the consideration of the autonomous panel. an important format in flat glass since the 1970s. Autonomous panels, which constitute the bulk of this section. look and act more like paintings than like windows, walls, or interior furnishings because they do not require or even want an architectural housing. Their primary concern is not function. but what is represented. Thus, in this overview, flat glass and three-dimensional glass whose focus is the image-whether painted, engraved, assembled, or photographed-are grouped together.
It is generally expected that images on glass will be narrative, and much, though not all, of the flat and three-dimensional glass presented here depicts themes that are treated representationally. Historical stained glass is rich in all kinds of subject matter. and a similar wealth is found in contemporary glass.
Portraiture has been promoted and encouraged in glass by a small group of artists, including Jii’i Harcuba, Narcissus Quagliata. and William Bernstein. Internationally recognized for his engraved glass. Harcuba has nearly single-handedly kept the craft alive through his energetic and intuitive handling of a highly demanding technique. His portrait of Franz Kafka is one of thousands of portraits of people-famous and unknown-that he has made on his own or that have been commissioned from him. Quagliata, whose work is not represented here by a portrait but by an abstract painting, is an important influence in stained glass, and his large-scale portraits are still some of the most impressive images in that medium. Bernstein has used the face as a decorative motif in his goblets for many years, but his best portraits are those that have recently appeared on a series of long-necked bottles.
The subject of the self in portraiture has been taken up by even fewer artists working in glass. and Dick Weiss and Cappy Thompson are its best-known practitioners. Weiss, whose work in stained glass explores color and pattern, focuses on the face in his painted vessels, sometimes surrounding his self-portraits with decorative elements. Thompson has worked extensively with stained glass and reverse painting on glass. Her panels and vessels depict stories that pair elements ofthe everyday with myth and fable. In recent years, she has developed an elaborate personal mythology, creating a context in her paintings for encounters with totemic animals, gods, and other spiritual beings.
The self may also be used as a vehicle for narrative. Judith Schaechter’s protagonists, who represent an aspect of the artist and at the same time Everyman. experience suffering. anxiety. loss, and redemption. Haunting. edgy, and unpredictable. Schaechter’s visions in stained glass are inspired by the beauty and tragedy of medieval art. Flat glass is most commonly used for the illustration of stories. whether they are everyday, historical, mythical, personal. imaginary. or legendary. Alison Kinnaird works with engraved glass and fiber optics to create an ethereal, large-scale tableau about daily life. while Willem Volkersz combines neon and vintage postcards in his cheerful piece about summer vacation travel. A darker and more surrealistic take on things is suggested by Kazumi lkemoto’s disconcerting vessel with the portrait of a boy and a large sheep. and by Frances Binnington’s reverse-painted and gilded panel. Here, a rifle, casually placed on a chair, implies a possibly violent denouement to come. The stage setting is luxurious, yet empty, and the objects await human action. Animals and fantastic creatures are standard fare in stained glass. such as the Alice in Wonderland-style rabbit by Kenneth Leap. or Joseph Cavalieri’s stylish. cavorting nanny goats. Scott Benefield introduces elements of voodoo symbolism in his creation of an insidious, intriguing creature that silently steals love from its human victims. Hans-Gottfried von Stockhausen and Gerhard Ribka work in the category of myth and legend. Here. Stockhausen makes a charming illustration of the myth of Daphne. the daughter of a river god who was transformed into a laurel tree to escape the amorous advances of Apollo. Ribka’s panel, executed in an anxious. childlike style, addresses the martyrdom of Saint Anastasius. A Persian soldier who converted to Christianity. Anastasius was strangled and beheaded by his countrymen when he refused to renounce his faith. His body. thrown to the dogs. was left untouched. Other symbolic narratives include Denise Stillwagon Leone’s moving piece about the events of September 11, 2001, painted in a gritty grisaille, and a mixed-media sculpture about time by Mary Van Cline.
In flat glass and painted glass. abstraction appears in a range of guises from decorative treatments to complex paintings. Robert Kehlmann is one of a group of California artists who pioneered abstraction in American stained glass, and his panels remain challenging and original. Landscape is an essential element in the works of Nicole Chesney and Maureen Williams. While Chesney creates shimmering images of sea-or skyscapes in plate glass. encaustic. and oil paint. Williams paints her vessels with marks that look as if they are burned into the surface, creating a topography that is inspired by Australian aboriginal drawings.
Ursula Huth and Johannes Hewell are part of a diverse group of German artists who have experimented with abstraction in flat glass over the last 30 years. Huth’s exuberant expressionism and Hewell’s quiet minimalism illustrate the variety of approaches to this style. Narcissus Quagliata and Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend, whose works in flat glass have commanded attention since the 1980s, recently turned from narrative subjects to abstraction. Stinsmuehlen-Amend focuses on pattern in her mixed-media pieces that have a strong graphic quality. while Quagliata dives into color, creating huge wall panels and architectural treatments. The panels by Albinas Elskus. an artist who has been especially influential, and Mary White follow other avenues of exploration.