Ted Sawyer

There are many types of beauty in the world. Some are dazzling and easy to like. Some are understated. Some are difficult. Some require us to move slowly if we want to experience them. I may find beauty in the stain on a concrete wall, the purple scale within rust, the misspelled word, the scar, or the late afternoon light shifting on the undersides of cedars at a lakeside. I make paintings using glass that generate experiences that are analogous to those I feel in the presence of these various beauties. To do so, I apply colored glass powders to sheets of clear glass and fire them in a kiln, usually through many iterations, often resulting in panels with pitted and distressed surfaces. Glass itself is often expected to be beautiful in an easy way. I am interested in cultivating the rougher aspects of its beauty because they more faithfully represent the types of beauty that I find most compelling – those that make me feel most engaged and alive.