Richard Whiteley

Richard Whiteley (British, born 1963), Reflector, 2011, cast and cold-worked glass. Gift of David Kaplan and Glenn Ostergaard, 2019.188.

Earning degrees at the University of Illinois and The Australian National University School of Art in Canberra, Richard Whiteley is one of the most influential figures in contemporary glass -- both as an outstanding artist and as an educator. Head of the prestigious Glass Workshop at Canberra’s School of Art since 2002, Whiteley recently relocated to the United States in 2019.

Whiteley's cast glass sculptures reveal both his interest in architectural form in space and his interest in the properties of glass as an optical medium for capturing, refracting, and transmitting light. In Reflector, a highly polished surface contrasts with matte textures as multiple planes and curved surfaces create optical illusions and a shifting impression of mass. This strong, simple form creates a duality between positive and negative space. 

Whiteley states, "I like the ideas of working with a raw quality in a precious refractive material, and I like how the intensities of color and tone can change the form so radically. It is the light that activates and defines the changing positive and negative nature of the shapes and planes."