Blanket Cylinder Series

Chihuly taught at the American Indian School in Santa Fe and was inspired by the graphic motifs he found on Indian trade blankets there. He and his team interpreted these patterns using glass threads, then picked them up with the molten gather of glass on the blowpipe. This series is primarily concerned with the suspension of patterns on the surface of the glass rather than with the vessel's form.

Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019

While teaching at the American Indian School in Santa Fe, Dale Chihuly hit upon the idea of using motifs from Indian trade blankets. He made drawings from glass threads, then picked them up with the molten gather of glass at the end of his blowpipe. In this series, Chihuly is primarily concerned with the surface of the glass, suspending patterns of colored threads within simple forms.