"Shirley Klinghoffer - CRT Revisited"

In conjunction with her upcoming exhibition, Shirley Klinghoffer – CRT Revisited, artist Shirley Klinghoffer will be a Visiting Artist in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop. Through her residency, she hopes to continue to tell the stories of people and families who are impacted by their battles with cancer.

In the artist’s own words:

“Cancer, especially breast cancer, has touched so many of us and our families. In a bit of irony, My life imitated my art.

I am a multimedia artist who is thrilled to be showing my slumped glass sculptures at Museum of Glass from May through October 2015. These sculptures, which reference the experience of battling breast cancer, were originally created by me in the 1990s when “pink” was not out for public awareness and “the big C” was still swept under the carpet. Years later, in 2006, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I am now revisiting this artwork from a new perspective……as a breast cancer survivor.

Going through cancer treatment has so many challenges, but somehow along the way, we connect with special people and certain objects that become truly meaningful in sustaining us through our journey and become ‘healing objects.”

Shirley took a moment to share her healing object with Museum of Glass.

Witty in Pink

“Ironically, I had just completed my first ever PINK sculpture “Witty in Pink” and hung “her” on a wall in my home the morning before I received my doctor’s phone call telling me that I had breast cancer. After hours of numbness, much later that day, I happened to look up at Witty in Pink and realized that I had created something meaningful in the strong bronze core surrounded by the fragile vintage tulle. I vowed that I would concentrate on finding my own strong core in the midst of feeling so vulnerable. It turned out that this sculpture had been hung above the last lights that I turned out before bedtime. So each night I said to Miss Witty in Pink, with a smile on my face, “Good night, darling”.

For more information about Shirley’s Healing Objects project, or to share your own healing objects and stories please visit museumofglass.org/exhibition/crt-revisited.