Kari Russell-Pool
Yellow and White Wish Bowl, Glass, 7”h x 10”w x 10”d
Feast or Famine - Loving Cup Series, Glass, 20”h x 10”l x 5.5”d
Place of Refuge, Glass, 16”h x 8.5”l x 8.5”d
Berries and Petals Wish Bowl, Glass, 6.25”h x 7”d
Winter Dreams of Spring Wish Bowl, Glass, 8”h x 9”w x 9”d
Basic Needs - Loving Cup Series, Glass, 15.5”h x 7”l x 5”d
Aubergine with Pink and Yellow Dahlia Mix, Glass, 20.5”h x 13”l x13”d
Artist Info
“From quilts and teapots, to sailors' valentines, and cages, I am interested in the capacity of common everyday objects to evoke and express emotion. Filled with personal content and commentary about our present society, the hard work of relationships, and my experience as a mom; my work tells many stories. A recent emotion expressing itself in my work is the particular pain of parenting teenagers. How in the face of seemingly constant abuse by our kids/captors, it's still possible to nurture feelings of love and affection- classic Stolkholm Syndrome, classic motherhood. Rumination on escape routes has developed into cages with no ability to incarcerate. The work contrasts the ideas of captivity and refuge; places for solitary confinement and sympathetic equanimity. What is a cage and do we create our own captivity? The birds which I think of as mothers, are rendered in a shallow relief and form an integral part of the structure which offers shelter but not incarceration. You can focus on the individual or, in stepping back, see the repetition of the experience and note the way the individuals engage to form a community. Much like parenthood, your perspective changes as you move around the piece, and these representations of mother and family cast a shadow that informs your interaction with the piece.” - Kari Russell-Pool
Kari Russell-Pool graduated from the Cleveland Institute of art in 1990. She has taught and exhibited all over the world, and her work has been published in Glass Magazine and American Craft Magazine. Her public collections include the American Glass Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Niijima Museum of Glass (Tokyo), the Racine Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art (DC), the Tacoma Museum of Glass, and the Tucson Museum of Art. Kari was awarded the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in 2017 and 2019.