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Sarah Vaughn’s Sculptures Explore Memory and Nostalgia

Checking In, kiln-cast glass with dye oxide and patina application, steel (base, handle, axle), bronze (wheels), 2024

 

Meet Sarah Vaughn, Penland Resident Artist.

Hello! I am Sarah Vaughn. I am in my final year as a Penland resident. It is wild how time warps here. I am just getting settled in, and it is almost time to pack it all up. I primarily utilize glass in my work and am particularly fond of casting. During my residency, I have incorporated slip casting and metal casting into my practice…but glass will forever hold my heart. My time at Penland has been focused on setting up my studio. It is liberating to know that wherever I land after my residency ends, I can continue making my work.

My work tends toward narrative and nostalgia. This year, I am focused on creating two bodies of work:

The first is an ongoing project for the remainder of my time will be working on a large-scale installation of glass stones. This project will have been ten years in the making when it is installed at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum in February 2025. The installation will comprise over 5000 glass boulders, stones, and pebbles.

Work in progress for an upcoming installation at Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, blown, sculpted, and flameworked glass.
Detail of work in progress for installation at Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, blown, sculpted and flameworked glass
Weather-worn Balance Studies, blown and assembled glass, 2023

Second, in between making boxes of glass rocks, I am also continuing my figurative-based sculpture work. This work draws on recollections of moments that play over and over in my head, often warping into distorted versions of the events.

Please enjoy these images of Sarah’s moving figurative work.

 

Untitled at the moment… still stewing on this one, kiln-cast glass with dye oxide and patina application, 2023

 

Memory of a Conversation | Conversation with a Memory, kiln-cast glass with patina application, 2017

 

Possibilities, kiln-cast glass with dye oxide and patina application, 2023

 

 

Scattered Thoughts, kiln-cast glass with dye oxide and patina application, flame-worked glass, 2021
Stillness, cast  glass, bronze, copper, brass, 2023