Ghost Shields
Ghost Shields, Glass
Ray King (American, born 1950)
#2014.0006.0001
Ray King is a Philadelphia-born artist who specializes in large glass sculptures. His works are site-specific, as King draws from each sculpture’s environment and location to create his pieces. The glass forms are inspired by nature, geometry, and the golden mean. King’s large pieces principally deal with the sun’s interaction with glass- the refraction of light and resulting color patterns are key visual elements in his work.
Ray King offered this illuminating statement on the artwork’s significance and background:
“I designed the Ghost Shield series of stained glass artwork in the mid-1970s while I was living in England. I went there in 1975 on a Louis C. Tiffany grant to study with the stained glass master Patrick Reyntiens at a Trust in Buckinghamshire. The shape of the frames was inspired by the heraldic shields of Britain, I had this idea of modern heraldic ornaments. They each have a center (golden rectangle) space with a void and an etched / sandblasted image that crosses the void like a filiment or an electric arch. The etched image is a trompe l’oeil, it can illuminate and glow when light is shined on the etched image, that’s where the image ‘ghost’ comes from.” [metaslider id=1778]
