Sky Dreamer Art Glass Face Mask Sculpture Gabriel & Rodolfo Lio Jaramillo Studios Mexico.
If you love art with faces, you will be smitten by this striking midcentury face sculpture from the Sky Dreamer series. Made of recycled blown glass, such face artwork, with its narrow profile and long nose, was a midcentury era theme of designers Bitossi and Fornasetti, among others. The small eyes and mouth with long nose is also reminiscent of the primitive art on modernism face sculptures influenced by brothers Robert and Jean Cloutier. Similar glass sculptures have been attributed to Kosta Boda designer Erik Hoglund. However, this brilliant orange swirl on black molded form was created by the renowned Mexican glass family of los Jaramillos. According to one of the sons who carries on the family art glass tradition, "My father opened this workshop in the 1960s. He had previously worked in the first hand-blown glass factory in the area as well as an internationally known glass workshop. It was through this experience that he mastered his craft and gained the knowledge to start his own factory.” This piece carries beautiful bubbles and production marks characteristic of hand blown glass. Plus, the color and crisp molding suggest that this is one of the earlier examples of this face art form. Set it in an easel for vertical display on a shelf, table or wall hanging. A highly desirable piece of modernist artistic history and a sophisticated vintage gift idea!
ABOUT LOS JARAMILLOS
“When we were young, we worked with our father during school vacations helping him to create glass works and in the process learning about the intricacies of silica sand and mixing colors. Everything we do is completely handmade. Our process requires sixteen ingredients: pieces of recycled glass, silica sand, stabilizers, flux and metallic oxide colors are melted and mixed using clay pots. The mixture is melted...After cooling…a piece is soft enough to be worked. From three pieces of glass one piece is made, as this is the easiest manner to manipulate this highly delicate material. When the scrupulous procedure of hand-blowing the glass is completed, the semi-finished piece is put in a kiln and fired at temperatures between 150°C and 800°C (300°F - 1,470°F) for twelve hours so it will dry slowly and evenly. The following day the pieces are selected for quality and their unique aspects."