Callan (Seattle) and Gray (Los Angeles) present the results of a four-year-long collaboration in glass. They explore our collective experiences with—and reactions to—clowns. Whether found in childhood memories, in circuses and parades, among those we love, or in our political worlds, clowns seem to be everywhere. The artists use old Venetian glassblowing techniques to mine complex social commentaries. It may seem like light-hearted fun, but multiple layers of feelings and realities emerge. Paint-by-number portraits exude three-dimensional, fragile glass tears. Sad, solo clowns tease out our sympathy as well as affection. Surely some jest, while others smile wryly. 

Nancy Callan has been a key member of maestro Lino Tagliapietra’s glassblowing team since 1996 and has mastered Venetian glass cane techniques. Gray is most recently known for Netflix’s Blown Away series, serving as the head resident evaluator. Both artists have extensive exhibition and teaching histories and have received numerous artistic residencies and awards.  Their collaborative exhibition, The Clown in Me Loves You, is a hot-sculpted fusion of kitsch and catharsis. Is it a tunnel of love, or a house of horrors – or some of both?