Reflections streaking down the walls entice visitors entering Chihuly’s Garden And Glass Museum in Seattle to look up.
There is a sense of theatre – a disruption and human clustering – as each visitor lingers, their eyes irresistibly drawn up, necks and bodies circling to take in a carnival of colours that seem to be floating overhead; open, organic forms inspired by sea creatures, though none we know of, with bright, rainbow colours, ripples, ridges and stripes.
‘In creating the Persian Ceiling I was trying to create something that people had never seen before: so you walk under there and you look up and, all of a sudden, you have to start figuring out what you’re looking at – and what is it? – and how does it make you feel?’
Dale Chihuly
Stunning
I’ve heard that coloured glass is sometimes used to stimulate the pineal gland in winter – I can imagine it going into overdrive faced with this.
Very unusual, but I love it, all those lively colors.
It’s interesting how they overlap too.
wild! love the bold colors. reminiscent of jelly fish (but they’re not as colorful as these structures).
You’re right – benevolent jellyfish without the stings.
Love the colours, and it’s so dramatic.
There’s a gaiety and a tension too. Some of these pieces look deceptively simple, so it was interesting to hear one of the artists talking about the challenge of working with glass heated so intensely that it wants to spin out and destroy itself.
It sounds so poetic, an artist in more ways than one…
Yey the third Chihuly I’ve seen today – love it 😀
He’s the obvious choice for this challenge.
I love Chihuly!
I’ve always found art glass fascinating, but he’s taken it to a whole new level.
I really like the POV, composition and colors in your second photo.
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Thanks Allan.
This is so lovely. The Chihuly Museum is someplace I really want to visit someday 😃
You’ll love it Su. Everything is done to such a high standard.
Sigh. One day. Seattle is pretty high up my list of places to visit. 🙂
Excellent post. I adore his glass. I like the colors reflection/shadows too.
The lighting (and dimming) is really impressive – art glass has so much more life when it’s well lit.
I think I would feel claustrophobic under that! Wow!
It did feel a little like it might tumble down, at first glance, though it’s held securely in place with panes of glass and girders.
Thank you for the excellent photos! Looking up, though always good advice, rarely is so astonishing. Didn’t you have a stiff neck for days afterwards?
I suppose I would have if this was all there was, but the gallery is overflowing with glass treasures and seeing glimpses of it gleaming in the next room through the half-light draws you on. My main interest was really to see the garden but the thing that stays in my memory is the boat. I haven’t posted that one yet.
I live in Las Vegas, NV USA. Sometimes I go to the Bellagio Hotel just to see his glass ceiling in the lobby. Thanks for posting.
I took a peep using google images and I can see why you would be drawn back to revisit. It’s a different method of installation. I like the way some of them seem to spill down like inside out umbrellas – the Bellagio ceiling is so high there was room.
What an amazing ceiling!
I can imagine sitting under it like a sun tan device for the soul.
Stunning!
It’s one of the first things you see when you enter the gallery so it sets the mood for things to follow.
Hooray for vivid color. This is one more item to add to the list of places to visit.
It’s perhaps an obvious point, but try to visit when the garden is in bloom if you can. I really admired the planting. It’s not natural, yet not unnatural either – like nature heightened.