Five Minutes with David Huchthausen

David Huchthausen is renowned for his use of cold-working techniques in glass, currently demonstrated in his exhibition, David Huchthausen: A Retrospective Selection. This week, however, Huchthausen will return to working with hot glass as the Visiting Artist in the Museum’s Hot Shop.

David Huchthausen in his retrospective exhibition.

I began focusing on cold working glass when…

I had always been interested in light transmission in architecture and think very three-dimensionally. After blowing glass for a few years, the limitations of the process became apparent and I began to combine hot-worked components with architectural glass in my sculptures.

My pieces are inspired by…

Science and science fiction, architecture, space exploration, and optics.

When I’m not in the studio working, I am…

Either out on my boat or at an antique show.

During my residency, I hope to demonstrate to Museum visitors…

I have not worked with hot glass for 35 years, but I intend to create experimental work during the residency, some of which will be based on my current work with the spheres. I also have plans for a group of vessels with floating figures, which expand on a direction I pursued back in the mid 1970s.

David Huchthausen (American, born 1951). Sphere 3, 2010. Cut, laminated, and optically polished glass. 12 inches. Collection of the artist. Photo by Lloyd Shugart.

If I wasn’t an artist, I would be…

Possibly an architect or a museum curator.

Plan a visit to Museum of Glass to see Visiting Artist David Huchthausen working in the Hot Shop from October 12 through 16, or watch his residency online.