Paul Marioni
American, b. 1941
The Queen, 1986
Cast glass
One of the founding members of the American Studio Glass movement, artist Paul Marioni values glass for its ability to capture and manipulate light. He plays with color and translucence, creating whimsical glass sculptures often inspired by his dreams. Marioni deliberately leaves his work open to interpretation to evoke a reaction from the viewer. Several of his works feature different characters, such as The Fool or The Queen, that play with our preconceived notions of these particular archetypes. Others, like Couple in Heat, use wordplay and innuendo to engage the viewer.
Gift of Lisa Jan Rose and Kenneth L. Koenig, MD and Sara Jane Rose and Jay Shanker, 2021
Visual Description: This is a glass sculpture, roughly a foot tall, depicting the head of a queen. The queen’s head is shaped like an egg and sits on a pearlescent white ruff, studded with various shapes like stars, hearts, and seashells. Her head is a sparkly coral and her hair resembles large, raised circles. Her eyes bulge out and her ears are two spirals that stick up on either side of her head. The queen’s face is decorated with unique shapes, like a hand on each cheek and a crescent moon on her forehead.
