Clearly Indigenous Audio Exhibition
Dale Chihuly & Native Art
Hello, I’m Amy Dehan, the museum’s curator of Decorative Arts and Design. I am the on-site curator for this presentation of Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass and will be sharing the introduction to the “Dale Chihuly & Native Art” section of the exhibition.
Although Dale Chihuly is not Native, he introduced glass blowing to Indigenous American students while teaching at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). In turn, Chihuly’s own art was enhanced by the inspiration he drew from Native design, an important and serendipitous result. Chihuly created his first Native-inspired works in 1975, incorporating glass threads fused onto the surface of blown cylinders to create designs based on fiber patterns in Navajo weaving. Chihuly is also well known for his Basket sets. His Tabac Basket series, inspired by Pacific Northwest Salish baskets, echo their undulating, asymmetrical forms. Although the color palettes of his early baskets are natural and muted like the woven baskets that inspired them, many of his later Baskets are in bold colors. All of his Basket series are known for their graceful shapes.
“I had seen some beautiful Northwest Coast Indian baskets...and was struck by the grace of their slumped, sagging forms. I wanted to capture this grace in glass.” -Dale Chihuly