Jeannet Iskandar

Tacoma (Jan 16 - Feb 7, 2010)

Traver Gallery Tacoma is pleased to present Danish glass artist Jeannet Iskandar’s first North American solo exhibition, Between Fragment and Whole, showing January 16 - February 7. Both organic and meticulously composed, Iskandar’s ethereal constructions of suspended light and line meet at a confluence of rhythm and repetition.

Precise without being predictable, the seven works in the exhibition reveal Iskandar’s sophisticated understanding of material and form. Aiming to unite the opposing concepts of simplicity and complexity into a singular expression, wavy ribbon-like components coalesce into three-dimensional patterns in Iskandar’s hands. With an almost insistent intensity, the rhythm of repetition focuses the viewer on the perception of shape with regard to the translucent, dimensional qualities of glass.

Iskandar drew inspiration for Between Fragment and Whole from the mathematical constant Pi and Ravel’s musical masterpiece Bolèro. The thread joining these, says the artist, is a simultaneous complexity of structure and simplicity of expression. Says Iskandar of her influences, “They expand with each additional sequence, yet each sequence contributes to the same basic pattern, which makes the expression calm and whole.”  Similarly, subtle breaks in the visual rhythm of each of her blown, cut and tack-fused spherical and ovoid sculptures serve to increase their overall refinement.

Jeannet Iskandar is based in Esbjerg, Denmark and has apprenticed to notable artists in Europe including Tobias Møhl, Trine Drivshol, Steffen Dam and Susanne Jøker Johnsenat. Iskandar made her North American debut with Traver Gallery in 2009 as one of 39 artists featured in the exhibition Look Forward, in which masters of the studio glass movement selected up-and-coming studio glass artists to show alongside their work.