Blown Glass Sculpture

Additional Information

Nathan Youngblood is one of the top contemporary ceramic artists from the Santa Clara Pueblo just north of Santa Fe. In 2005, he approached Chris Tarpley, a Native American artist working in glass, to collaborate on a series of electro-plated glass vessels. Tarpley was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico but attended the famous Pilchuck Glass School in Washington where he took a class on electroforming by Michael Glancy.
Electroforming is a process where the glass is coated with a metal-conducting paint and given a chemical bath. Electrical current is then run through the bath to force the copper to adhere.

In the later parts of 2005, Nathan and Chris went to Seattle to form the blanks for their collaboration. At that time, the two decided this collection would be limited to ten small pieces, ten medium pieces, ten large pieces and five extra-large pieces that would be sold to museums.

The two artists were involved in every phase of the work. Once back in Santa Fe, Nathan began the work by covering each piece with a rubber membrane in which he would draw on the design by hand. Once the design was drawn, the rubber membrane was removed in the areas that were to be carved. Once the pieces were carved, they would then get electro-plated, which can take weeks at a time. At the end of this process, only 27 pieces were ever completed.

This particular piece is a museum size and was the largest of all the pieces in the collaboration. When blowing the blank, the weight of the glass on the end of the blow tube was so heavy that the blow tube bent causing the glass to go to the floor and causing a flat spot at the bottom of the pot.

The collector bought this piece directly from the artists out of their studio in Santa Fe and was an important patron for this collaborative project.

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