Half-Green Egg with Optical Lens

One of the most important Czech sculptors working today, Václav Cigler uses glass to create space. Throughout his career, he has investigated and artistically defined the mechanics of transparency and reflection. His sculptures are not meant to be displayed in neutral contexts, but to absorb, reflect, and interpret the world around them. They are designed to come alive in interaction with their environments. Cigler uses glass, not as an end, he says, but “as a means of viewing and watching.” His sculptures are “non-technical devices which enlarge, reduce, mirror, and dissociate the outer environment.” A pioneer in using cut optical glass to create sculpture, Cigler has also made a significant contribution to architecture with his ambitious lighting designs and glass architectural elements. In recent years, his work has ranged from small-scale conceptual objects to room-size installations and outdoor projects. Half-Green Egg with Optical Lens is made of colorless optical-grade lead and dark green glasses that have been cast, cut, ground, and polished. The dark green outer surface encloses a brilliant and reflective optical glass core. Although Cigler has created a relatively small body of work in recent years, his sculpture is known internationally. In the United States, he has not been adequately recognized for his work in glass, which has investigated light, reflection, and space since the early 1960s. His sculpture and installations are very much at home in the context of American minimalism, but until recently, he has not exhibited often, and rarely outside the Czech Republic. Signed “1/4 V Cigler 2009” along bottom edge. Edition 1/4. For more information, see Václav Cigler, Michal Motycka, and Jana Šindelová, eds., Václav Cigler: Prostory Projekty = Spaces Projects = Räume Projekte, Prague: Trico, 2009.