Three Merida artists will present three ways to look at glass at an upcoming art exhibit in Santiago.
A reception for “Sentimientos Cristalizados,” featuring work by Randa Kaye Cherry, Denisse Romay and Manuel Rodriguez Cabanas, begins 8 p.m. Friday, July 26 at Le Cirque Galeria, Calle 55a x 70, Centro.
Randa arrived in Merida in September 2014, having made a conscious decision to explore the art of fusing glass. So she bought a used kiln and taught herself to use it.
Randa earned her Fine Art Degree from Columbia University, in Columbia Missouri. Her glass-fusion training came decades later at the regional Ceramic and Glass Fusion Center, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
It is Randa’s love of color, design and light refraction that draws her to work with glass as her medium. She believes true Synergy exists in the interaction of the glass pieces. When combined, the materials produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual parts, she says.
For this exhibit, Randa’s take on “Sentimientos Cristalizados,” or “Crystalized Feelings’” is all about “joy” and her feelings of “awe” and “wonder” when she gazes at the flamboyant trees and their amazing red/orange blossoms. This year, she believes the flamboyants have been particularly beautiful.
Randa Estudio Cereza offers glass fusion classes starting at 500 pesos. Students complete a project in three hours or less. Bring a friend or make new ones. For more information contact Randa Kaye Cherry on Facebook or what’s app 999-256-4956
Denisse Romay also offers workshops. One block from Parque Aleman is Vitrociclaje, where one can take classes in mosaics, using enamels on recycled glass and recycling bottles. There are many creative options with these techniques in glass starting at 550 pesos for a three-hour course. For more information contact denisseromay@gmail.com or 999-155-6381.
Denisse was born and raised in Mexico City. Always deeply expressive from childhood, Denisse identified with her artist father, and drew inspiration from her cosmopolitan surroundings, constantly finding new avenues of creative outlet. By the time she graduated from Universidad del Valle de Mexico, Denisse teamed up with another artist that had been working in the medium of mirrors and briefly formed a small art production house, Espejearte.
This pursuit led to a wider appreciation of glass and desire to work with glass as a medium to express herself.
After this period, Denisse started working on her own designs, apprenticing in Independencia a specialized glass school in CDMX, learning varied skills including her favored techniques, enameling, fusing and sand casting.
She moved to San Francisco, California, and for five years she worked and studied at the Crucible, an industrial art school, where she got specialized skills in kiln forming glass working deep glass.
Since that time she has honed her expressive voice in different projects, ranging from working commissioned art to personal works.
She is proud of being selected by the Celebration of Craftwomen show in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and for being artist in residence with the Crucible Team at the Young Museum 2008, among other shows around Mexico.
In 2012 she decided to go back to her home country and formed Vitrociclaje, art glass studio, in Merida.
The third artist, Manuel Rodriguez Cabanas, is also fascinated with the versatility of glass.
“My fascination with glass came to my life at once and forever, when I discovered that with its brightness and transparency I could play with light and print dimension and optical effects,” says Manuel. “I realized this was my creative medium. I was able to create strong organic shapes and with its apparent strength, I could paint empty spaces with color.”
Manuel began his art career in 1992 while studying at the Centro de Artes Plásticas y Artesanías Independencia in Mexico City.
