Net of Indra Marquiscarpa
Artist
Marquis, Richard
(American, born 1945)
Date2006
OriginUnited States of America
MediumBlown glass, murrine technique
Dimensions12 1/2 × 10 3/4 × 9 3/4 in. (31.8 × 27.3 × 24.8 cm)
ClassificationsGlass
Credit LineGift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
Object number2017.93
Label TextRichard Marquis (American, born 1945)
Net of Indra Marquiscarpa
Blown glass with murrine, 2006
Gift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
The Jeweled Net of Indra, king of heaven, is a Buddhist metaphor for the interconnectedness of all things. This cosmic net is infinite in dimension. At each of the web’s crossing points sits a jewel, their infinite number all reflected in each other — a change in one reflects in all the others. Marquis’ sculpture, exploring this concept with a matrix of mosaic canes, is one of his technically most complex works. Small glass cane sections make up a repeating and exacting network pattern that does not allow for the slightest distortion during the fusing process.
Marquis was first exposed to the mosaic technique during a Fulbright Fellowship to Italy in 1969, while studying glass sculpture at UC Berkeley. The highly skilled glassblowers at the famed Venini factory on Murano encouraged his fascination with the exacting technique of murrine (glass cane sections fused to mosaics), which he would pursue throughout his career. There, Marquis could study the opaque and densely patterned, shallow glass mosaic vessels designed for Venini in the 1940s by renowned Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa (1906–1978). The title of this work reflects the artist’s veneration of the famed designer.
Status
Not on view
