Daniel Marder
Artist Statement
For me, visual art is a harmony of the philosophical notions of beauty as they pertain to vision, coupled with the science of creation. My current body of work explores the perception and relationships through the use of blown glass. My Nesting Forms combine tension and symbiosis reflected in the objects interior space and exterior form. The Tri-pod sculptures take the form of alien organisms in motion, exploring the relationship of the viewer with the placement of objects in proximity of each other. The fragment series is an interpretation of the perceived understanding of a relationship similar to that of an artifact exhibited in a natural history museum. All of this work allows the viewer to enter an unfamiliar realm of reality, by superimposing both the micro and macrocosmic through the use of scale. Human scale installation places the viewer philosophically if not literally inside the scene. The art references the body through its’ occupation of the viewer's perceptual representation of the self in proportion to the object of view.

Glass is the perfect medium for this work because of its inherent sensuality and versatility. It’s one of the few materials that can display several seemingly contradictory properties at the same time. Glass can be opaque, transparent, translucent, hard, soft, sharp, textured and polished at the same time. It is a fluid medium that represents the three-dimensional manifestation of thought. Working hot glass informs me beyond pen paper and imagination.

I use glass not as a decorative medium but a sculptural element. Forming glass is a balance of both physical and mental extremes. Manipulating this alien material in its molten state is a balance of skill, control, science and will.. For me, the cold working process is even more cerebral.. Often a piece cannot be created solely through hot formation. The finished piece can only reveal itself through hours of grinding and polishing. Revealing aspects of the work's breath and beauty that would be otherwise unseen. This is another way the glass forming process itself informs my work.