JON KUHN

"In general, my philosophical expression in glass has always been a reflection of my interest in eastern mysticism. In recent years my work has come to focus on the inspiration gathered from personal meditative experiences. For specific subject matter, I also make reference to my interests in architecture, music, mathematics and textiles.

Rhythm, patterns and sequences are the basics of all my compositions. The interior of my work, once revealed through a small window, is now the focus. The surface has disappeared and become less significant. The inside is abstract, complex. There is explosive energy and color. Where there was once only one component, there are now hundreds, usually thousands. The goal of spirituality is perfection. Striving for perfection has never been more evident in what I do. Perhaps my sculpture has become an architectural model of a vision for a better world."

Born in 1949, Jon Kuhn is one of the leading artists working in the laminated glass medium in the United States today. Examples of his work may be found in prestigious collections and museums throughout the world, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the High Museum in Atlanta, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Museum Fur Kunst und Gwerbe in Hamburg and the Musee des Arts Decoratif in Lausanne. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in major galleries both in the U.S. and abroad.

In 1993, at the request of President Bill Clinton, Jon Kuhn's "Peaceful Horizon" became part of the White House's Permanent Collection. Jon Kuhn received a BFA from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas and a MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. He has been an independent studio artist since 1978. READ ABOUT KUHN’S TECHNIQUE, BELOW.

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Asheville Art Museum — Asheville, NC

Blowing Rock Art & History Museum — Blowing Rock, NC

Canadian Clay & Glass Museum — Ontario, Canada

Cantor Center for Visual Arts — Stanford, CA

Carnegie Museum of Art — Pittsburgh, PA

Cincinnati Art Museum — Cincinnati, OH

Chrysler Museum of Art — Norfolk, VA

Corning Museum of Glass — Corning, NY

Dennos Museum — Traverse City, MI

de Young Museum — San Francisco, CA

Ernsting Stiftung Glass Museum — Coesfeld, Germany

Glasmuseet Ebeltoft — Ebeltoft, Denmark

Henry Ford Museum — Dearborn, MI

High Museum of Art — Atlanta, GA

Hsinchu Museum of Cultural Arts — Hsinchu, Taiwan

Hunter Museum of American Art — Chattanooga, TN

Huntington Museum of Art — Huntington, WV

Knoxville Museum of Art — Knoxville, TN

Lowe Art Museum — Coral Gables, FL

Metropolitan Museum of Art — New York, NY

Milwaukee Art Museum — Milwaukee, WI

Mulvane Art Museum — Topeka, KS

Museo del Vidrio — Monterrey, Mexico

Musée du Design — Lausanne, Switzerland

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe — Hamburg, Germany

Museum of American Glass — Millville, NJ

Museum of Texas Tech University — Lubbock, TX

National Museum of American Art — Washington, DC

Owensboro Museum of Fine Art — Owensboro, KY

Racine Art Museum — Racine, WI

Royal Ontario Museum — Toronto, Canada

Scottsdale Center for the Arts — Scottsdale, AZ

Tampa Museum of Art — Tampa, FL

The Baker Museum — Naples, FL

The Columbus Museum — Columbus, GA

The Dayton Art Institute — Dayton, OH

The Detroit Institute of Arts — Detroit, MI

The Mint Museums — Charlotte, NC

The Speed Art Museum — Louisville, KY

The Vatican Museums — Rome, Italy

Vero Beach Center for the Arts — Vero Beach, FL

White House Permanent Collection — Washington, DC

 JON KUHN'S TECHNIQUE

"I do lots of drawings. Sometimes it's something I see, a building or a textile piece, or a picture in a book. My wife and I have a small collection of fiber and textile art. The pieces are very interesting to me because they are about color and pattern, which is what I do in my work, except that my work is almost like three dimensional weaving. One can also see references to Oriental, Egyptian and Mayan architecture in my work. These are sources I draw on for inspiration and ideas.

The little cubes of core material in my work are made up of glass pieces only 1/8" square. I've developed a technology for producing them in which numerous pieces of colored glass are layered, then cut through, ground and polished. This process is repeated through multiple stages, with the faces ground and polished at every stage. It may take several months to make a one 3" inner cube.

A very clear borosilicate glass is laminated around the exterior of the inner elements, using a proprietary adhesive that dries crystal clear so as to be virtually invisible. More grinding and polishing completes the piece.

Early on, as my work became more complex and time consuming, I found I needed assistants to specialize in gluing, grinding, polishing, etc. Without them, I could not be as creative as I need to be. All these people are like extra hands to me. My assistants are like my tools, or my paint brushes, to help me with my creativity and the application of my ideas."