"Fishbath and Romance" Chandelier

In 1989, Ginny Ruffner was invited to design a series of glass sculptures for the Vistosi Glassworks, located on the island of Murano near Venice. She was an unusual choice. Unlike other artists working in glass, Ruffner made painted and tangled flameworked sculptures (which are also on view in this gallery) that have nothing to do with Italian traditions. For the Vistosi designs, she says, she approached the project "like my public art commissions, where I respond to a situation." She created a site-specific vocabulary of images—the fish and crescent moon emblematic of Venice, and the columns referring to architecture. In this chandelier—the only one she designed for Vistosi—fish appear, along with hands that hold the lights. The hearts and dice are symbols of love and romance.