Chihuly’s World

Chihuly was born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington. He didn’t plan on becoming an artist. During college, he studied interior design and architecture. While taking a weaving class, he incorporated small pieces of glass into his textile designs. He soon decided to experiment with glassblowing and quickly got hooked.

There are many ways to work with glass, but Chihuly began with a traditional process. He heated silica sand to around 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit to melt it. Then he gathered this melted substance onto one end of a long, hollow metal tube and blew into the other end of the tube. This caused the hot glass to expand like a bubble. Chihuly explored interesting ways to alter the form using heat, gravity, and human breath.

Chihuly was born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington. In college, he took a weaving class. He tried adding small pieces of glass into his fabric designs. Soon after, he started to experiment with glassblowing.

Chihuly began shaping glass using a traditional method. He melted silica sand by heating it to about 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. Then he gathered the melted sand onto one end of a long metal tube. He blew into the other end of the tube, causing the hot glass to expand like a bubble. He played with different ways of creating the glass’s form.

In 1976, a terrible car accident left Chihuly blind in one eye. The artist spent weeks in the hospital recovering. During this time, he thought about his work. Instead of holding him back, he realized, the accident presented an opportunity to push his art further. Now Chihuly leads a large team that works together. (But the artistic ideas are all his!) This team approach allows Chihuly to make bigger, more complex sculptures. For example, up to 17 people work together to make the sculptures in his Rotolo series, shown in process above. The team uses up to 140 pounds of glass to make one of these sculptures.

In 1976, Chihuly was in a terrible car accident. The crash made him blind in one eye. But his injuries didn’t stop him from making art. Now Chihuly works with a team of glassblowers. They help the artist bring his big ideas to life in his sculptures. To make his Rotolo series, shown above, the team used as much as 140 pounds of glass for each work.

Chihuly continues to experiment with his process and scale. In 2012, a long-term exhibition designed by Chihuly opened in Seattle. It includes a garden and a glass house, above. One of Chihuly’s largest installations is suspended inside the glass house. The 100-foot-long work includes red, yellow, and orange glass forms. In the garden, visitors encounter Pacific Sun shown in the photo above. To achieve the scale he wanted for each of these works, Chihuly created many small blown-glass forms at his studio. Then at the exhibition, his team mounted these smaller glass forms on a metal support, like the one shown above right, building a single monumental work.

Chihuly has always pushed the boundaries of glassblowing. What events in his life inspired him to take chances, try new techniques, and develop a seemingly impossible range of forms in his work?

In 2012, Chihuly opened an exhibit in Seattle. It includes a garden and a glass house, shown above. One of his largest works (100 feet long!) hangs inside. It has colorful glass blossoms. In the garden, visitors can see Pacific Sun, shown in the photo above.

To make these enormous works, he created many small forms from blown glass at his studio. Then his team mounted the small forms on a metal support, like the one shown above right. Together the smaller forms make one large work.

Chihuly has always experimented with glassblowing. What events in his life inspired him to take risks and try new techniques?