Galaxy of Glass

Seattle glass sorcerer Dale Chihuly’s gravity-defying, candy-colored sculptures have made him a celebrated artist. The gasp factor in his often massive public installations comes from an elemental blend of molten glass, fire, human breath and centrifugal force, not to mention playful bravado. A co-founder of the Pilchuck Glass School, Chihuly, 63, withdrew from hands-on glass blowing after a 1976 car accident injured his left eye. He employs a battalion of architects, artisans, designers, packagers and shippers to help make his sprawling visions into fragile realities at his Seattle studio, The Boathouse. Chihuly pieces are currently on view at three local galleries in “Chihuly: Los Angeles,” his largest L.A. show to date. The artist clarified a few points in a recent conversation.

You’ve likely been asked this many times before, but why glass?

It has a lot to do with color. Glass is unique in that light goes through it. About the only other materials you can say that about are water, ice and plastic. That’s why people are so fascinated by stained-glass windows and things, the quality of the colors.

You’re often credited with spearheading glass art’s evolution from a craft to a so-called fine art. Do you agree with this assessment?

It’s a hard question to answer. I’ve always felt the best of anything is an art form. With painting, a lot of painters are craftsmen, but the best is an art form. It’s interesting to see that the Guggenheim showed Armani a few years ago. People are definitely seeing things a bit differently.

Can craft-based art forms survive in the post-digital world?

I don’t think people are ever going to take their art needs digitally. People have tried that already, where you have a screen in your house and you can change the images like a painting, but I don’t think it’s been very successful.

You once said: “It wasn’t that hard to make art. You just make what you want to do.”

You see that so easily with children. They’re so creative when they draw, and at a certain age they lose that. I don’t know if they get inhibited, or what happens. I started a program called Seniors Making Art about 15 years ago. We hire artists to go into senior centers once a week for 10 weeks. It’s amazing that older people often get that back, the freedom. I think a lot of people could be artists.

What do you think makes an artist?

You have to have energy, you have to have organizing ability, and you obviously have to have the confidence to do it.

You’ve had site-specific installations in cities all over the world. If you did an installation for L.A., what would it be?

Can I get back to you on that? What I can tell you is that [L.A.] is one of the cities I really enjoy visiting. It’s an exciting, interesting place, just by the fact that it isn’t tall. I find it more interesting to drive around L.A. than New York. I love ‘50s stuff, and I get a kick out of carwashes and drive-ins. L.A. hotels are beautiful. Doing some installations at the Hotel Bel-Air would be pretty spectacular. I’m probably going to do a show at the Huntington Library. I mean, that desert garden has no equal.

“Chihuly: Los Angeles,” at the Frank Lloyd Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 264-3866, through Jan. 8; L.A. Louver Gallery, 45 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, (310) 822-4955, through Jan. 15; Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, (310) 506-4851, through March 20.