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Fulcrum shows great local glass creations

By Dave R. Davison

For Tacoma Weekly
dave@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: June 26, 2008

The Fulcrum Gallery is a beacon of light perched upon Tacoma’s Hilltop. Gallery Director Oliver Doriss has an eye for quality and has launched his brave little ship of a gallery onto the waters of Tacoma’s arts renaissance. Located on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, the Fulcrum is off the beaten path but a visit to this newly gentrified part of town is well worth the trip.

The Fulcrum’s current show “Local 253: Contemporary Glass Group Show” features the work of glass artists from within Tacoma’s city limits. Judging from the work in this show, Tacoma is home to some truly talented artists working in the medium of glass (most certainly due to the presence of the Museum of Glass).

Both urban and urbane, the intimate, well-lit space of Fulcrum houses a visual feast comprised of the works of Shannon Eakins, Conor McClellan, Alex Stisser, Oliver Doriss and Joseph Miller.

Eakins’ “Speak” is an interactive piece. Around a dozen electronic speakers the artist has made glass mouths: red funnels equipped with chiseled white fangs. Connected to a fur-covered console, the speakers produce techno sounds that seem to respond to the presence of the viewer.

McClellan, a cold-worker at the Museum of Glass, presents a series of stylized spray paint cans. Cartoonishly puffy and done in black and white glass, they are the size of fire hydrants.

Stisser uses basic forms (often inspired by the “chunky objects” of childhood) as a template upon which to display his mastery of color and technique. Honey pots, barbells, flat tires and teardrops are all done in richly colored and masterfully blown glass. His two “flat tires” – staggered one in front of the other – are especially rich: circular rainbows of brassy color.

Doriss makes works of glass cast thick and textured with bubbles. “Sculpting with Shadow” is a series of geometric glass slabs that cast shadows on the wall, like light shining through ice.

Miller has produced a series of forms that resemble the word balloons of comic strips. Each is hand painted with a little vignette of a local landscape (Mt. Stuart, Ellensburg, Mt. Rainier, etc.) They recall the charm of antique, hand-painted glass lamps.

Fulcrum gallery is one of those rare galleries in Tacoma in which the work of emerging and mid-level artists has a chance to be seen in a serious venue. It deserves to be on the list of “places to see” for those interested in authentic art.

In addition to its exhibits, Fulcrum offers artist talks. In conjunction with the current show, some of the glass artists will give a talk on July 3 at 6 p.m.

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