Artist of the Month
July 2012
Thomas Scoon
In Thomas Scoon’s glass and granite figures, the artist conjures up the ageless quality of the monolithic sculptures of Easter Island. The impassive figures have an organic quality that is heightened by the roughness of the stone and the internal glow of the glass. He is represented by Ken Saunders Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
Click on each photo to the right for a full picture.
Barked Bee Keeper, 2007; 38 x 22 x 12 inches; cast bronze, cast glass, flame-worked glass, stone
Companions, 2012; 34 inches each; cast glass and stone
Companions, 2012; 62 inches each; cast glass and stone
Golden Companion #3, 2010; 49 x 10 x 6 inches; cast glass and stone
(Left) Your Kind #3, 2009; 59 x 13 x 6 inches. (Right) Golden Companion #7, 2009; 60 x 15 x 5.5 inches; both cast glass and stone
(Left) Your Kind #5, 2010; 59 x 16 x 8 inches. (Right) Your Kind #4, 2010; 56 x 13 x 8 inches; both cast glass and stone
Inner One, 2003; 46 x 28 x 18 inches; cast glass and stone
Nesting, 2012; 59 x 15 x 8 inches; cast glass and stone
Thomas Scoon
Artist Statement:
My sculpture focuses exclusively on the human figure. While abstracting the form, I am able to emphasize the essence of gesture, gender of other human characteristics. The pieces vary from small-scale figures to my recent life-size sculptures. By pairing or grouping the figures, I attempt to explore familial and generational relationships, which I hope speak to the viewer as both personal narrative and universal construct.
I begin by choosing stones, often found in natural habitats. I frequently visit the same sites over a period of years, as the pieces evolve. I also visit several quarries where I am able to sift through the rubble for stones. I try to gather both the head and the torso stone from the same site for consistency of color and texture.
With the use of wax molds, I am able to cast glass to fit the stones. The glass shapes the rest of the figure, in a very organic sense, much like ice. The translucent quality of the glass is activated best by natural sunlight and in this way the figures are given their spirit or soul. I believe the pieces are contemporary and timeless in the same moment.
- THOMAS SCOON
About Thomas Scoon
Thomas Scoon was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1961, and received his B.F.A. from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, and his M.F.A. from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. He now resides in New Hampshire. He has taught sculpture at the University of New Hampshire, Massachusetts College of Art and Pilchuck Glass School.
His materials of choice for his sculpture are glass and granite. The granite elements of his sculpture are found in New Hampshire. New Hampshire, of course, is "The Granite State," and the stones have spectacular traces of quartz, mica, and iron running throughout. Juxtapossed with the translucent glass, the quartz and mica take on fantastic sheen and shimmer. The artist is always inspired by nature and its elements—the organic qualities of the quartz combined with the cool colors of the glass create harmonious and exciting combinations.
Scoon has received many commissions for public and corporate art. His sculpture has appeared in numerous museum and university exhibitions and is in private and museum collections worldwide.
Click here for an artist resume.
Thomas Scoon (right) pours molten glass into a mold.
Acknowledgment of Gallery:
We are grateful to Ken Saunders Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, for providing the materials for the Artist of the Month.
The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.
The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.
