A Precipitous Edge: New Work from Steve Klein
Steve Klein’s kilnforming processes provide control of a piece during construction that must be relinquished as the glass is fired in the kiln, then regained through coldworking to bring together both forces in a resolved work. His glass sculptures, readily recognized by their shapes and geometric patterns, find their inspiration in natural landscapes, masterworks of modern art, or remembered events and states of mind.
Klein lives in La Conner, Washington, where he currently maintains a studio in the middle of several hundred acres of farmland with incredible views of Mt. Baker to the east and Mt. Erie to the west. In the winter, snow geese and trumpeter swans visit the surrounding fields by the thousands. In springtime, daffodil and tulip fields create an amorphous sea of color. Most inspiring though are the skies. “There is no shortage of nature’s inspiration right out my door.”
Born in Los Angeles in 1946, Klein spent a good part of his adult life in sales and management related to industrial parts and supplies; however, in 1996 at age 50, he enrolled at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, where he made his first glass sculpture. He has returned to Pilchuck many times since as a teaching assistant for Irene Frolic and Jane Bruce, as an instructor, on staff and as an artist in residence in 2002 and 2005.
Klein has taught, studied, and shown his art in exhibitions and workshops throughout the US, Europe, Australia, China and Taiwan. His sculpture can be found in the collections of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, North Lands Creative Glass in Lybster, Scotland, and the Museo del Vidrio in La Granja, Spain, The Museum of Scotland, Palm Springs Art Museum, The Art Museum of California in Oakland, and Eretz Israel Museum. The artist has reduced his teaching to private, one-on-one classes as well as residencies with fellow kilnforming artist and friend, Richard Parrish. Klein serves on the board of Pilchuck Glass School and the Anacortes Art Festival.
After spending his career exploring and establishing a relationship between shape, color and texture, Klein currently pays homage to the world’s vanishing natural beauty. His latest series will be on view in the fall of 2020 in an exhibition with Northwestern painter Meg Holgate at the Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, Washington. Titled, A Precipitous Edge, the show will explore the consequences of global warming, the current administration’s policies as well as public perception and complacency about climate change.
Says Klein: “I’ve enjoyed a wonderful career, and I feel very strongly now that I must use the voice that I have to express my views and concerns.”