Swirling Grace by Jill Casty

This coming Saturday, April 21, La Encantada Galería and wine bar in the historic district of La Paz, will hold the inauguration of the first show in Mexico of the unique work of the American artist Jill Casty. Jill’s joyful sculptures of brilliantly colored fused glass combined with a variety of metals have been presented in galleries and exhibitions throughout California and in eight cities in Italy. In a previous stage of her career in the United States, she created monumental standing sculptures (up to 30 feet tall) for cities and dozens of large-scale sets of mobiles and other forms of aerial art for both commercial and civic locations.

These current works are wall-hanging pieces, like bold and dramatic paintings or collages, or standing pieces, for floor or table-top. One series has sets of up to nine glass fusions, the color-rich expressiveness of the layered textures of the glass interacting in ensembles with the metals. A second series includes single glass fusions combined with sculptural metal surrounds or affixed to stone or metal bases. Some of these “solos” explore a new horizon, bold and large single images of flowers, abstracted as harder-edged glass “paintings.”

As critics on two continents have defined the central quality of the sculptures, they are a joyful celebration of the grace and beauty that still can be found in the turmoil of the modern world—a lyrical expression of the harmony that can be maintained between the natural world and the world of modern materials and technology.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. La Encantada is located on Belasario Dominguez between 5 de Mayo and Constitución, one block up from the malecón. To see more of Jill Casty’s work, visit: http://www.jillcastyglassart.com/