Kurumi Conley makes all sorts of things out of glass, but it’s her glass chairs that seem to define her. “I like glass, its color and translucency,” she says, “and I also like chairs, the feeling that a chair is for somebody to sit on.” Even in an empty chair made of glass, “you feel the presence of somebody, because a chair represents a place for a person.”
What entrances Kurumi about a glass chair, though it’s a chair you would never want to sit on, is that it makes you think about what a chair is and what glass is, and the pairing emphasizes the attributes of both,” says publicity coordinator and participating artist Bonnie Meltzer.
Wondering what happens to all the pieces of glass that don’t make it into chairs or bugs or jewelry? Kurumi Conley recycles every bit: All scrap is used as is, pounded into coarse glass, or sifted into powdered glass. “I’m focused on not wasting material. It’s like trying to make fried rice with whatever vegetable you have in the fridge,” she says.