Immersive exhibition will realize the artist’s vision of hybrid glass creatures in a gilt world Charlyn Reynolds’ newest exhibition, The Amber Grotto, showcases the culmination of three years of meticulous craft and wild imagination. The immersive exhibition, which realizes the artist’s vision of a fantastical gilt world populated by hybridized glass creatures, will open Saturday, May 4, at the gallery at 414 Fabrication Street in Dallas.
“The work discusses play and the impossibility of fantastical creatures of a mystical world,” Reynolds says. “The installation encompasses a sense of wonder and childhood imagination.”
Reynolds’ work stems from what she considers “the absurdity” of her childhood. Behind her childhood home in the suburbs of Chicago was a fantastical grotto that housed an assortment of exotic pets. Her bedroom, echoing that menagerie, was covered from floor to ceiling in Tweety Birds.
“I woke up to an adventure everyday beginning with an overstimulating sea of yellow and hundreds of blue eyes staring back at me,” Reynolds recalls. For the artist, the room always felt special. But she recognized other responses to that environment.
“To those outside of my family, this bedroom was overwhelming and unnerving,” she says. “This is the experience that I want viewers to feel as they view my art installations.”
Reynolds’ installation is centered around the colorful, fantastical creatures she creates out of glass. She designs mythological hybrids, seamlessly blending one animal into another to create a unique beast. Combinations include, among others, a gorilla and a spider, a cheetah and a falcon, and an elephant and a manta ray.
Reynolds use of glass — which, when molten, stretches and moves like an animal’s skin — brings these creatures to life. The potential danger of wild animals that can bite and sting parallels that of molten glass. Once the material cools, the glass creature is essentially frozen and safe, allowing viewers to come up close and see the details of her creations.
In The Amber Grotto, Reynolds immerses her creatures and the audience in the world in which these creatures live. The floor is layered with faux jewels, and the foliage and rocks are caked in gold paint. The overall effect is a toxic-looking environment, every surface glimmering in a synthetic way that transforms luxury into camp. Reynolds hopes her viewers find pleasure in her inventive creatures, while simultaneously being alarmed by their environment.
The opening reception for Reynolds’ The Amber Grotto will be held Saturday, May 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the gallery at 414 Fabrication Street, formerly Erin Cluley Gallery, in west Dallas. The exhibition will be on view through May 25.
ABOUT THE VENUE
Formerly home to Erin Cluley Gallery, the gallery at 414 Fabrication Street is located in Dallas’ “Tin District” and neighboring the properties known as Fabrication Studios. The gallery will soon be home to ex ovo, a multidisciplinary project space and gallery organized by Allison Klion. These studios and galleries, maintained by developer Larry “Butch” McGregor, are home to a diverse community of artists and creatives.
EVENT DAY: Saturday, May 4, 2019 EVENT TIME: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EXHIBITION DATES: May 4 to May 25, 2019 OPEN GALLERY HOURS: Fridays and Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Closed May 11 LOCATION: 414 Fabrication St., Dallas, TX 75212
PRESS CONTACT: Charlyn Reynolds, [email protected], (847) 915-0285
PLEASE EMAIL FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES.
PUBLIC INFORMATION: 414 Fabrication St. Dallas, TX 75212 Telephone: (847) 915-0285
Artist website: www.CharlynReynolds.com Artist Instagram: @CharlynReynoldsGlass
Images courtesy of Holly D. Gray
COMMENTS