Camille I Cady-McCrea

For the creation of “Ownership,” I collected all of the waste glass, and normal trash that the Glass Department at RISD created over the span of six weeks. Every night, between 10 pm and 1 am, I would collect the trash in trash cans, and store it in the studio.

At RISD, there is far too much waste. People throw out materials, completed or failed projects, pieces of furniture, clothes— you name it, it gets thrown away. But, no one takes ownership of how much garbage they create. It simply goes in the trash can and disappears over the night.

During the making of this piece, I spoke to the Facilities workers who collect the garbage and recycling around RISD, and accompanied them on the “trash run” one very very early morning. It was eye opening to me to find out all of the work involved in making the garbage disappear, and where it went.

In my casting and moldmaking class in the spring of 2017, I focused on creating pâte de verre objects. I wanted to make these forms as thin as possible, while creating saturation of color. The laciness that appears on the edges of these forms fascinated me, and I began to strive for perfection, to create only that laciness. On this page you see some of my successful and unsuccessful attempts at making that glass "lace.”

The pieces range from a few inches across to a few millimeters.

As my final coldworking project, I laminated slabs of cast glass with black glass, cut and ground on an angle, forming a cube shape. My goal was to create a passing optical illusion of solid blackness, interspersed with clear glass. This piece plays on ephemerality of vision and perceived reality in that the cube appears as though it is always changing, the viewer never being able to see the same formation twice. 

The different viewpoints through which the cube can be observed give it a mysterious quality in the way that the physical makeup of the clear/black glass interactions change so quickly. I was hoping to achieve a finish on the glass that made the object look seamless, or nearly so, indicating that this cube would have "naturally" shown this specific optic. I am quite satisfied with the result of this process, and hope to continue to iterate on this form and optical phenomenon. 

Clear hot cast glass slabs, black sheet glass, XTR-311 adhesive, 2"x2"x2"

December 2016

Describing the subtle everyday interactions we encounter with glass and the glassy, this piece plays on the connectivity between auditory and visual, as in presentation they are separate and converging at the same time. The viewer is caught in the middle of these two forces, compelled to connect them. This idea is exacerbated by the scrambled audio files not correlating with their visual counterparts.

Audio and visual experience

Winter 2016

An exercise in engraving, this bowl was hot-popped from a teardrop shape and engraved on a lathe to achieve the scalloped edge. A great method to build patience and a light touch.

Glass, 6.5" diameter

Fall 2016

As my midterm piece of Fall 2016, I was prompted to explore the relationship between glass and skin, in any sense. I was intrigued with the idea of incorporating the material as a worn object, playing with the concept of a woven material, and eventually becoming interested in the idea of a worn object similar to a piece of jewelry. The formation of this piece, which was made by pulling extremely thin threads of glass from a gather of hot glass, and then coiling the threads of glass into a round which could be slipped over the wearer's head. The threads are bound together by tension and a small piece of monofilament. 

In creating a piece of jewelry, I was interested in the conflict between protecting and beautifying the wearer, while simultaneously endangering their safety, simply by nature of the material. The high tension that the threads were under caused some of them to break into fragments and splinters, potentially cutting the wearer of caution was not taken. I have found in my work, that I am drawn towards conflict, whether it be something as simple as glass poking someone in the neck, or a greater concept. 

Glass filaments, monofilament

Modeled by Yiyi Wei

Fall 2016

An exercise in glass carving, this strawberry demonstrates variation in shape, line, contour and depth, as well as creating a challenge to improve skill with many methods and ways of coldworking an object.

I was looking to carve an object that has several different components and textures in an attempt to broaden skills and establish techniques. While it is one of the first exercises in glass carving I've completed, I feel that this form best expresses my original intent for the object. 

Glass, 5”x3.5”x4”

Fall 2016

Exploring glass and light, the reflections and projections that were created and interacted with in this piece showed the ability of glass to layer, dull, brighten, and distort a moving image. Viewers were given control over how the image was manipulated by holding a piece of tinted glass however they pleased in interaction with the video projection.

Seen in these images are reflections, refractions, and the interactivity of the projected video and the viewers. As the tinted glass plates were moved and turned by viewers, the moving image was reflected onto every surface of the room, creating an all-encompassing environment in which the viewer is invited to explore. The intersection of light and human manipulation emphasised the pliability of light, image, and perception as well. 

Projection, 1/8” plate glass, vehicular window tinted glass, 5’x3.5’ projected 

Fall 2016

These forms were a series of explorations detailing what would happen when two bubbles are pushed together and fused, then twisted. There really was no objective in this process, simply to experiment and observe. Many of the attempts broke, both before and after annealing. Even through such failure, there was no opportunity missed in learning about the material in and of itself.

Glass, ranging from 1" to 5" in length

Fall 2016

This brick of glass contains six crystals, two orange citrine, two of rose quartz, and two amethyst crystals. This was one of my first true experiments in glass, an attempt to answer questions I couldn't predict. I had no idea what would happen to the crystals when encased, and that's what excited me about this object. Interestingly, most of the crystals lost their color. A few of them created smoky black or red bubbles. I'm still intrigued by this explorative piece, and have been pondering where this idea would be able to lead me in the future. 

12" x 5" x 4", glass and various crystals

Fall 2016

In an exploration of texture and the relation of glass to conflicting substance, in this case cotton lace, I began to discover the many different ways glass could shape other materials and how those materials can shape glass. The cotton lace I sandwiched between two ladles of hot glass instantly burned away, leaving a near perfect impression of the lace's form as a negative space within the glass. 

Cotton lace, hot cast glass

Fall 2016

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