LA CIENEGA AREA

Susan Stinsmuehlen’s works in glass loudly proclaim her intentions of pushing the medium out of its pretty-object ghetto. Part painter, part collagist, part glass technician, she currently shows irregular-shaped wall pieces and a four-panel screen. They broadcast serious concern with design and expression, once we penetrate their glitzy overload of shiny surfaces, rampant pattern and garish color.

Stinsmuehlen combines hand-blown and painted glass with laminations, jewels, copper, brass, ceramic tiles, bevels and colored leads in a circus-like abstraction called “Bobo the Harlequin.” “Knight Giant, Wind and Oil” is a humorous fantasy inspired by her Texas homeland, while “Bacchante Texana,” a predominantly gold and brass piece, shapes up as a jaunty figure.

This buoyant work exudes an energetic wit, but it also suffers from visual confusion. While the screen makes a clear virtue of colliding forms and overlapping movement, most of the wall pieces need the ministrations of a good editor. (Kurland/Summers Gallery, 8742-A Melrose Ave., to April 19.)