She Bends: Redefining Neon Legacy @ Museum of Glass
Electric elegance ⚡
Published May 26, 2023
February 11th – October 29th
Open Wednesdays – Sundays: 10 am – 5 pm
My visit to the Museum of Glass was nothing short of a cultural immersion. Wandering led me to my first stop: an in-house hot shop—the West Coast’s largest and most active museum glass studio. I happily felt the temperature rise a few cozy degrees, then grabbed a stadium seat in what felt like a modern-day gladiator pit. The interpreter’s deep voice echoed through the conical auditorium and narrated the techniques on display below.
As interesting as the rest of the museum was, She Bends: Redefining Neon Legacy alone was worth the trip. As I considered the VHS tape ribbons in Sarah Blood’s Echo, another woman briskly walked by, saying, “Neon doesn’t quite do it for me.” That comment cemented the tension of how this exhibit explores neon’s transition from commercial signage into fine art.
If you didn’t know, neon is a master-apprentice trade. She Bends is an organization that thinks intentionally about to whom the knowledge of this craft is passed. Some of my favorite works reflected shifting narratives within the art form: tend to grow (watermelons) by Jude Abu Zaineh presents the fruit as a symbol of Palestinian resistance. Stephanie Sara Lifshutz’s You Heard Me the First Time is a small but mighty “no“. The exposed web of wires in Daniella Thach’s Tower of Angkor Wat was a compelling metaphor. Mull over it afterwards with a walk along Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway.
📸: "A Modern Guilt (installation view), 2020" | Courtesy Museum of Glass | Photo by Deb Leal
Meghna leads with her curiosity when writing about travel, food, and beverages. She previously wrote about cookbooks at Kitchen Arts & Letters, and has managed events & communications at Book Larder, Peddler Brewing Company, and Cascade Bicycle Club. She is newly pescatarian and a Seattle native. Follow along at @wanderingthali.
