Christopher Ries - Studio Art Glass

Iris [filesize 10K]	Falling Petals [filesize 16K]	Solstice [filesize 11K]
Point of View [filesize 15K]	Afterglow [filesize 19K]	Lotus [filesize 20K]
Embrace [filesize 18K]	Bouquet of Light [filesize 13K]	Spirit [filesize 14K]

The photographs pictured here on this web site do not do justice to the beauty and elegance of Christopher Ries’ optical glass sculptures. Hopefully, this site will give you insight into the work, but in truth, the work is best experienced in person.

Christopher Ries was born in Columbus Ohio in 1952, and grew up on a farm. After receiving a BFA in glass and ceramics from Ohio State University, Ries worked as an assistant to Harvey Littleton, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and founder of the American studio glass movement. While there, Ries earned an MFA in glass.

After a few years of experimentation with glassblowing, he discovered his true direction in working with clear, optical glass. By the late 1970’s he was sculpting glass cold by cutting, grinding, and polishing it in his home studio. Unlike most glass artists, Ries neither blows nor laminates glass. Rather, he works in the traditional reductive sculptural mode, starting with a block of solid optical glass and reducing it to his desired form. Ries acquired blocks of pure, clear, lead crystal cast from Schott Glass Technologies of Pennsylvania. Today he serves Schott Glass as artist-in-residence. What’s exciting about his art is the aspect of taking an industrial process and turning it into an artistic one. The glass he uses is typically used for fiber optics. It is among the clearest, highest transmitting glasses of the visible areas of the spectrum. It is difficult to keep in mind that clear glass possesses all the colors of the rainbow, its just more subtle, more elegant, more refined.

Ries’ optical glass sculptures are created by melting raw powder and casting it in a rectangular form the size of a bathtub. It is annealed for several months - a process that gradually reduces the temperature back to room temperature, which relieves the internal stresses that are formed during the melting and heating process. Once fully annealed, the block is inspected. There can be no impurities, no bubbles, and no spots. It must be perfect. Once accepted as perfect, it is ready to be carved. The block of glass is so heavy, five men are needed to maneuver it. With the use of heavy industrial equipment a “rough form”" is created. The form is refined with the use of hand tools. The attention here is to create the distinct sharp edges. These edges are crucial to defining the illusion created between the planes of the finished piece. Ries can not afford to make one mistake. One chip could take several weeks or longer to correct.

The sculpture is subjected to the painstakingly tedious process of polishing. Each surface requires at least thirty hours of continuous polishing. One side is polished, then covered with a thick protective coating, until all surfaces are polished. Ries himself does not see the optical effects of the sculpture until all sides are polished and finished. Through time and experience, he has refined a sense of what a piece probably will look like.

It is a moment of truth when the coating is removed and the sculpture is revealed. It is amazing to view a Christopher Ries sculpture, to recognize the transformation of the glass into a wonderful form that is a dance of light and form, creating illusions that reach into the fourth dimension. It is very difficult for an artist, particularly a glass artist, to work without color. To let the form speak for itself, to gain strength from its shape, and to have emotion evoked in all who view it. It is this emotion found in Ries’ work that is so unexpected. One would presume the works to be emotionally detached due to their reliance on the technical. Yet the results are quite the opposite. It is through the precision that the sensitivity is created. The works are peaceful. They are full of spirit. They are calm. They are introspective, elegant and graceful.

The finished sculptures are so smooth and pleasing to touch. Blind people can experience the art of Christopher Ries through the tactile act of touching the sculpture. It’s incredible. He finds deep satisfaction in having other’s look at and experience the work and love it.

His luminous works are characterized by their technical perfection and the seemingly magical, ever-changing optical patterns within them. His sculptures range from a few inches tall to life-size. Although the scale of his work varies significantly, some of Ries’ works are the largest, whole, unassembled pieces of sculpted crystal known. The art of Christopher Ries is deceptively simple in form but complex in an ever-changing intimate world of images. It is a metaphor for life itself - it changes depending on how you view it.

It has been said, “It is as if Christopher Ries sculpts the light itself.” His monoliths of glass are stunning, elegant and pure. His works depict not one simple fate, but changes on a daily basis. His sculptures allow people to dream - to see what you want, because the fourth dimension is at play. The optical illusion does not exist except as an apparition of light. Light is like a ricocheting bullet. It goes in one direction, then bounces into another direction. It will keep going inside a piece until it finally exits.

Ries’ creative process is rather slow and tedious. He works in two worlds. The original ideas are created in his private studio attached to his home. Once the design is worked through, he creates a small maquette of the piece. This is then enlarged at the Schott factory. When creating a piece, Ries thinks in terms of months or even years. This time frame would be excruciating to a painter. Ries’ work pushes through new horizons. This work, unheard of, unthought of, was inconceivable 50 years ago. Yet is timeless when you see it today. It will still be spectacular one-hundred years from now.

Ries has won a number of awards, has been in numerous publications and is widely collected. His works are found in major collections and museums in the United States, Europe and Japan. Among them are the Corning Museum, Heisey Museum, Contemporary Art Glass Group Exhibit, and Glass America.

Tips on caring for your Christopher Ries Sculpture:
Clean the sculpture with Isopropyl Alcohol and a clean soft cloth. Clean the turntable with a lint brush. Avoid handling the sculpture with jewelry on the hands or dangling from the neck. With tender care when handling, your sculpture will be a family heirloom, cherished for many generations.