GA: Can you talk about your most recent work, "The Men of Alexandria Make Glass"?
DH: When I was invited to speak at the Glass Art Society conference, I decided that I wanted to create a new piece that would reflect my work with glass, my interest in history and the fact that we were all there, fascinated by and involved with glass, in the 21st century. This piece took five months to create.

Let's look back again at ancient Egypt, to the 1st and 2nd century AD, and to a location south of Alexandria -- to the Fayum. The Fayum, one of the richest and most important provinces of Egypt, was a very lush agricultural region only about 150 miles south of Alexandria. Large quantities of grain and papyrus were produced there, and then sent by boat up the Nile to Alexandria and exported on to the entire Roman Empire. Various goods were then brought back from Alexandria to the Fayum area. Among these goods was glass -- indeed at one archeological site in the Fayum there was discovered over twice as much glassware as has been found at any other single site in Egypt. Another very significant archeological discovery of this period, and located primarily in the Fayum region, are the famous mummy portraits. A major exhibition of mummy portraits closed in May at the Metropolitan Museum.

These wonderful mummy portraits were painted in tempera or wax on canvas or on thin wooden panels that were then mounted over the face of the mummy. It is believed that these portraits represent the Egyptian elite -- those who could afford to have their portraits painted and their bodies mummified after their death, and those who were most likely to have had beautiful Alexandrian glass in their homes. Remember, this was during the time of the initial development of glassblowing. Just think, these were most probably lips that drank from some of the earliest blown glass vessels. These wealthy citizens would also most likely have been early collectors and patrons of mosaic glass that was used as decorative inlay in their furniture and wall pieces.

I decided to select from among the more than 100 ancient mummy portraits, two as models for my newest portrait. It's difficult, without the class distinctions of clothing, jewelry and hairstyles, to distinguish the faces of these affluent Egyptians from the Alexandrian glassworkers.

I created a double portrait of two fictional ancient Alexandrian glassworkers -- one, who, like me, created time-consuming, labor-intensive mosaic glass, and the other, who was captivated by the newer, exciting and much more immediate technique of blown glass, a development that contributed to the loss of the older mosaic glass technique.

"The Men of Alexandria Make Glass . . . ", Dinah Hulet,

10.5" x 20.5". lampworked mosaic glass (2000). PHOTO: Patty Hulet

 

In doing my research on the mummy portraits I came across a great quotation: "Immortality is the gift that portraiture bestows upon the portrayed." Look beyond the technique I have used, past the grid, and see the faces of these men who are looking back at you from 2000 years ago. Think about another group of people (maybe glass lovers like us) that may gather together in the year 4000 to look back at the studio glass movement at the beginning of the 21st century and wonder what life was like for us.

With this work I encourage artists to do whatever they can to nudge the boundaries of glassworking outward and to further expand the possibilities of what can be created out of this remarkable substance we call glass.