A I L E E N O S B O R N W E B B A W A R D S
Left:
Rebecca Medel
The One,
knotted cot-
ton, 750 parts stitched
together at perpen-
dicular intersections,
8 x 8 x 8 ft.
Right:
Ginny Ruffner
When Lightening Blooms,
Aesthetic Engineering
Series, 2006, stainless
steel, bronze, glass,
42 x 38 x 24 in.
F e l l o w
R e b e c c a
M e d e l
F e l l o w
G i n n y
R u f f n e r
Known for her evanescent
grid-like installations of knotted
threads, Rebecca Medel
(b. 1947) explores ideas involv-
ing time, space, metaphysics
and symbolism. “What I search
for,” she says, “is a structure
on the edge of being physically
supportable, a structure of
transparent weightlessness.” A
professor at Tyler School of Art
in Philadelphia, Medel earned
her
b f a
from Arizona State
University and
m f a
from the
University of California, Los
Angeles. Her work has been in
group exhibitions nationally
and abroad, and she has had solo
shows at the Neuberger Mu-
seum of Art in Purchase, NY,
the North Dakota Museum of
Art in Grand Forks and Brown-
grotta Gallery in Wilton,
C T ,
among other venues. Her hon-
ors include two
N EA
Artist
Fellowships, a Bronze Medal
from the Triennial of Tapestry
in Lodz, Poland, and a Pew
F ellowship in the Arts. “I work
with images that speak of
voids,” Medel says, “and the
beauty of mathematics through
an underlying geometry and use
of mathematical principles.”
Ginny Ruffner (b. 1952) is well-
known for exuberant sculp-
tures, primarily of lampworked
glass, that explore such themes
as the nature of art, the source
of creativity and the workings
of the mind with sparkling wit
and a virtuoso combination of
processes. “Beauty is the orga-
nizing intelligence,” she once
wrote about one of her installa-
tions. The Atlanta-born artist
has an
m f a
from the University
of Georgia (1975) and has lived
in Seattle since 1985. Ruffner’s
work is in major private and
public collections, including 39
museums. In recent years she
has created major installations
and commissions that combine
glass and metal, with one sched-
uled for 2011 in downtown Se-
attle. Ruffner’s many honors
include the Libensky Award
from the Pilchuck Glass School,
an Honorary Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award from the Glass
Art Society and an
n e a
Artist
Fellowship. She is the subject of
numerous articles as well as
^-7
N o t So S till L ife,
a documentary
that premiered in June at the
Seattle Film Festival.
040 american craft oct/nov io
