Art Knowledge News
Corning Museum of Glass Unveils 2009 Rakow Commission by Isabel De Obaldía |
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| Written by Tina Oldknow |
| Tuesday, 03 November 2009 02:08 |
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“De Obaldía’s large, totemic animals, colored with glass powders and engraved with raw cuts and gashes, have a powerful, almost shamanic presence,” says Tina Oldknow, the Museum’s curator of modern glass.  De Obaldía was
trained as a painter. Her work reflects that of a long line of modern
“primitive” painters, from Paul Gauguin to Diego Rivera, who explored the art of
ancient and tribal cultures. Her paintings and sculptures incorporate symbols
and ideas from ancient Panamanian, Colombian, and Costa Rican art. The thin,
stafflike form of her crocodile, for example, alludes to the partly submerged
body of the crocodile in water, as well as to the ceremonial batons used by a
number of indigenous peoples of Panama. The weathered-looking surface of the
sculpture gives it an air of antiquity. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1957, De Obaldía was raised in Panama by French and Panamanian parents. She studied architecture at the University of Panama and drawing at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris before receiving a B.F.A. in graphic design and cinematography from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, in 1979. De Obaldía continued her studies in art at the Art Students League in New York City in 1982. In 1987, she began to work with glass at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA, where she studied engraving and glass casting for over a decade. She currently lives and works in Panama City. Inaugurated in 1986, the Rakow Commission supports new works of art in glass by encouraging artists to venture into new areas that they might otherwise be unable to explore because of financial limitations. Each commissioned work is added to the Museum’s collection and is displayed publicly for the first time during the Museum’s annual Seminar. Each year the Museum awards the Rakow Commission to an emerging or established artist working in glass. Currently, the commission is awarded to professional artists whose work is not yet represented in the Museum’s collection. It is made possible through the generosity of the late Dr. and Mrs. Leonard S. Rakow, Fellows, friends, and benefactors of the Museum. The Rakow Commission is a key component of the Museum’s ongoing work with and advocacy for living artists. The Corning Museum acts as both a supporter of the current generation and a catalyst for those who will follow. It is the leading international institution for the collection, preservation, study and display of work in glass by living artists, and it serves as a critical convening and research resource for the glass community and others interested in learning more about the material. Visit The Corning Museum of Glass at : http://www.cmog.org/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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