Marlene Rose discovered the practice that has defined her career nearly by accident. As an art student at New Orleans’ Tulane University in the 1980s, Rose focused her studies on painting and sculpture and avoided the glassmaking classes her curriculum demanded for as long as she could.
“Glass art did not attract me at all,” says Rose, a longtime Clearwater resident represented by Naples’ Aldo Castillo Gallery. “It intimidated me. I associated it with glassblowing, which I thought more of as a craft. I wasn’t interested at all.”
In the spring of her junior year with graduation requirements upon her, however, she decided to enroll in a class taught by a ceramics professor who was experimenting with glass and sand—and something just clicked. Suddenly, Rose couldn’t get enough of the process, which involves creating a shape out of clay, wood or foam, and then pressing it into a wet sand mixture. Once an impression is made, volcanic-hot molten glass is ladled into this mold and then left in a cooling oven for about a week. The end result of this daring pursuit yields the creations that have helped Rose build a successful career as an artist: abstract expressionist sculptures often accented with metal or other materials.
“I think the reason I’m attracted to this work is that the glass remembers the sand texture, so the forms created look primitive, and I find myself very connected to ancient cultures,” says Rose. “The works those civilizations created were simple yet bold.”
Now considered one of the leading experts in this sand-cast technique, Rose has honed her skills over the last 40 years at a foundry in St. Petersburg. Here, one can find her multiple days a week with a welding helmet on as she pours 2,000-degree lava-like glass onto endless molds. Today, her sculptural works, which range from Trojan horses to Buddhist iconography, can be found at homes all over the world.
“I strive to make my work special, unusual, and different because it means a lot to me,” says Rose. “My biggest purpose as an artist is to uplift, and I hope the recipients of my work feel fully acknowledged by it.”
Story Credits:
Text by Kelley Marcellus
Photo courtesy of Marlene Rose
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