In mounting a show of artworks by Therman Statom, a master of studio glass, the KANEKO gallery is paying homage to one of its best friends.
The 19 pieces on view in Colecciones de estudio de invierno (“Collections of a Winter Studio”)—including wall-mounted sculptural works, two blown-glass heads, a giant cluster of glass boxes adorned with eclectic imagery and found objects, and three big glass houses—typify Statom’s simultaneously elegant and playful work. The exhibition runs until September 26.
Statom and Jun Kaneko, the legendary ceramist and founder of the unconventional Omaha, Nebraska, gallery and creativity hub that bears his name, have known each other for half a century. Statom, who lives in Omaha, is on the board of KANEKO, where he’s been a major force in developing a program that brings inspiring art education to neurodivergent kids.
Born in Florida to a family that joined the Second Great Migration out of the Jim Crow South, Statom was raised in Washington, DC. Fascinated with ceramics as a teenager, he entered the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and became a student of Jun Kaneko. But an introductory glassblowing session with another towering RISD teacher, Dale Chihuly, converted him to that medium. He studied at Pilchuck in 1971, its inaugural year, then finished a BFA at RISD three years later.
KANEKO, an Omaha arts center, was founded by ceramist Jun Kaneko, who has known Statom for over 50 years.
