Ray Howlett

Ray Howlett’s art work is one-of-a-kind and I am highly inspired by his works. His use of light, dichroic glass, colour and use of ‘kaleidoscope’ design link with the work path I have chosen to follow. Howlett’s art work is more of a visual experience which makes you engage with his work rather than having a perception or understanding of his art work, which I think is a key factor of dichroic art work in itself. As all of his art work is interactive I think to get the full experience of his art work, or any dichroic artwork for that matter needs to be seen directly. I feel that looking at images over the internet doesn’t give the full experience that the dichroic artists are trying to create; pictures don’t do justice to the pieces.

Although Howlett’s work is original it also comes under several different art forms also such as; dichroic glass art, light sculpture, light and space art, mixed media art, mandala art, op art sculpture, interactive art, kinetic sculpture, 4D art, kaleidoscope art, art and technology, Ultra-modern sculpture, contemporary sculpture and avant-garde sculpture, hes created a series of boxes and pyramids. I think this shows how creative and intelligent Howlett’s work is which can be perceived from just looking at his creations.

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Inner Pyramid

‘Inner Pyramid’ was the first of the works I found belonging to Howlett, it was created in 1989 as a limited edition piece of 300. They are priced at $10 000.

This piece of work really captured my eye with the use of light which I feel adds depth of colour and strength to the art piece; every angle the work is viewed at you see a different but similar design which is a strength of dichroic glass I love. I feel that being able to create one item which gives different views to the eye makes the piece a lot more interesting as every time it’s viewed it can give a different effect, colour and pattern creating a different feel overall. I also think the time of day which the work is viewed can create different visual experiences adapting a different mood, as the piece wouldn’t look as strong and powerful at day time as being seen in darkness at night.

Vortex/ infinity 1997

This is one of the ‘box’ works Howlett has created; this highly inspired my idea of creating a lamp design. Howlett’s works are extremely complex which is shown just from looking at the image above, the panel seems to show vivid colours which stand out from the darker colours. The larger the circles the more vibrant the box becomes. Graphic images of light appear to float inside the work. The images reflect inward creating compositions of multiple layers throughout the open transparent space. Looking in the ‘vortex’ is like looking through a window into the 4th dimension which is a clever trait Howlett seems to use in his works. I think this piece would look amazing if Howlett found a way to create open transparent spaces for each panel of the box. I also think this work would look effective in a larger scale in a public area.

http://www.rayhowlett.com/pdf/RayHowlett.pdf