…I’m as big a fan of deep meaning and social relevance in art as the next guy. But this series of glass donuts started as a celebration of “art for art’s sake,” more about the sensory experience than symbolism, and as an exercise in virtuosity, since it exploits a considerable understanding of both glass work and painting. I’m always looking for beauty in the everyday, and I don’t think you can get more beautiful or more everyday than the average donut! There’s a reason why there are a trillion images of donuts available with a single google search: the shiny glaze; the happy sprinkles; the oozing jelly and the browned edges are all lovely things to behold, and recreating them permanently in glass and mixed media was a very satisfying (and challenging!) task.
However, a bigger idea evolved as I worked on the donuts, a question about the loss of the REAL in our lives: what happens when our expectations are confused, when the Boston Cream doesn’t have that delicious chocolate and vanilla aroma, and doesn’t feel all squishy and gooey when you touch it? When so much of the way we interact with both things and people is now virtual, based on carefully composed and even doctored images, what are we losing by not having the real thing in front of us?
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