Corning Museum of Glass

Zora Palová (Slovak, b. 1947)
Slovakia, Bratislava
2008
Mold-melted glass, ground
H: 190.5 cm, W: 39 cm, D: 28.5 cm
(2008.3.41)

The changing colors and movement of flowing water have inspired many artists working in glass. Of the four elements—earth, fire, air, and water—water shares the most properties with glass. Water is liquid and solid, it can be transparent and opaque and it can acquire a variety of colors.

The idea of water and its expression in glass is attractive to the sculptor Zora Palová, who works in large-scale cast glass. However, she is not inspired—as are some artists—by calm pools, mists, or thick chunks of ice. What Palová embraces are the cold, unpredictable waters of the North Sea. Her interpretation of these waters is strong and gestural in her massive, cast glass sculpture that combines thick slabs with fragile, undulating edges.

The 23rd Rakow Commission.