Even quilts can be made from the molten medium by glass artist Martin Kremer.
By: Pat Summers
Martin Kremer’s glass work demands to be seen in person, rather than in photos or word pictures. It’s that striking. Whether hung on white walls or displayed on lighted tables in the attractive gallery at Grounds For Sculpture’s Toad Hall Shop & Gallery, Infusion is art appreciation made easy.
Of the nearly 40 pieces on view, most are vividly colorful and often patterned, either wholly or in part. Some are darkly elegant, and a few in orange, lime green and yellow are raucous. Opened in April, the exhibition has just been extended for three months through October 14.
A bold colorist whose Web site credits Native American fabrics, Italian masonry, classic quilts and wood marquetry as influences on the textures and patterns of his work, Mr. Kremer produces fused and "kiln formed" bowls, platters, trays, ovals, ellipses and quilts. Yes, quilts. And many of them rumpled, too.
Reportedly not a bed-maker himself, he decided that anything called "quilt" is by definition rumpled, even if it’s made of glass and hangs on a wall. The rumpling happens in the molds he uses to shape these rectangular and round pieces, he explains.
In heating glass in an electric kiln, Mr. Kremer uses two basic processes: the first firing, at about 1,500 F, melts or fuses glass pieces together in a flat shape (thus, "fused glass"). At temperatures to about 1,250 F, the second firing shapes the glass over or into a mold in a process called "slumping" and more often now called "kiln-forming." This results in the "rumpled quilt" effect, among others.
Reflecting his early interest in stained glass, Mr. Kremer’s quilts are bordered with black or red that also defines their squares. Like so much else, the many-patterned squares are lusciously colored; each is taken from a larger sheet of various overall designs so they’re related but not identical.
The molds themselves can be made of anything that withstands the kiln’s heat. His are stainless steel or ceramic. Finally, after as many firings as are necessary to achieve the appearance and form he’s after, "cold-working techniques such as diamond abrasive grinding and carving, sandblasting and acid-etching complete the piece."
As displayed in Toad Hall’s gallery, his glass pieces spot the room with color. Those lit from below are best served because a visitor can then look down and through a piece, and both the jewel-like shades and their contrast with background hues are heightened. Multi-colored ribbons and insets on matte black operate on the same principle as the brilliantly accessorized little black dress.
In his Ventana series of bowls, the artist contrasts opacity with transparency and matte with glossy texture on pieces that are vividly colored to begin with. These are art objects, not intended for even the most "in" appetizer. (In a flyer about caring for the works, Mr. Kremer writes, "I’d be concerned about scratching from utensils and the ill effects of heat extremes.")
His periwinkle ellipse, one of those resting on a light table, is a long oval of glass that, like many of his pieces, resembles ceramic. Embedded in the vessel are irregularly shaped patches or windows of colored and clear glass, adding the dimension of depth.
Most of Mr. Kremer’s pieces look to be about a half-inch thick, judging by their flat rims. Their weight varies. His "Pick Up Sticks" bowl, for instance, is just plain heavy, although there’s nothing "plain" about its 15 to 18 layers of clear and colored glass. The resulting way the multicolored "sticks" lie over and across one another could be commemorating the lay of the sticks in some famous pick up sticks game.
Another piece that fosters depth perception is the "Puzzle Bowl," in which Mr. Kremer has alternated transparent and opaque glass allowing a visitor to see through the vessel walls while also appreciating the zigzag color shapes.
Seeming to stare down from one wall is his long oval "Black Cane Ellipsis," resembling nothing so much as a dramatic African mask. Its strips of angled color suggest features just enough for dramatic effect. There’s a different kind of drama in his two bowls called "Helena’s Squares," named for Mr. Kremer’s assistant. Thanks to a layer of white glass in the middle, each has a distinctive Harlequin pattern inside and a completely different exterior.
A couple of small bowls, with ribbony stripes of black and iridescent metallic tones, glow with subtle elegance. Together with a few matte-finish pieces that have minimal, but telling, color insets, these seem Asian-inspired.
A resident of Pound Ridge, N.Y., Mr. Kremer says his work with glass has taught him two things: respect for the material and wonder at its possibilities. He studied blown and fused glass at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, at Urbanglass in Brooklyn, N.Y., and at the Corning Museum of Glass Studio.
His work was juried into last year’s prestigious Philadelphia Crafts Show and represented in the Museum of American Glass Invitational Show in Millville this spring.
Glass has been Mr. Kremer’s only medium of expression for more than 25 years, he says, noting that over time, his hobby glass became his business and "full-time obsession," while his career medical technology became his hobby. So now he’s a part-time EMT and a full-time artist. Aren’t we lucky?
Infusion, glass works by Martin Kremer, is on view at Grounds For Sculpture, Toad Hall Shop & Gallery, 14 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton, through Oct. 14. A reception will be held July 21, 2-4 p.m. Gallery Hours: Tues.-Sun. 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; (609) 586-2366. Martin Kremer’s Infusion glass pieces range from $175 to $5,800 in price. More of his work can be seen at www.kremerglass.com

