David Ruth

David Ruth's excellent adventure in the Antarctic was chronicled in an interview published in a recent GLANC newsletter by San Francisco Bay Area glass artist Susan Longini, where he humorously details the voyage from receiving a national grant, to the company of filmmaker Werner Herzog, to the minutiae of daily south pole life.

To hear David's story (read his blog), the Antarctic was a veritable mine of artistic influence that resulted in a new series of sculpture based on the Antarctic ice, where form and color are pure and (forgive the pun) glacial. This collection of work, and first issue of David's work in a limited edition series (nine per casting), remains true to his formalized tradition of forming an inner work captured within the outer confines of his sculpture, and is spectacularly imbued with light, as he captures spectacular, glittering optical effects rendered by labor-intensive polishing (and decisions where not to polish). David's concept behind the series studies and delivers samples of crystalline formations found only in the rarest circumstance, and demonstrates what may forever be lost under changing planetary conditions. Two works from this series, Norsel and Gamage, were recently shown to considerable acclaim at SOFA Chicago 2008 and our newly launched Winter Salon 2008. Bravo, David!