Incollect Magazine - Issue 15

Incollect Magazine 31 F or Carolyn Cartwright, light is never simply illumination. It is atmosphere, emotion, architecture, and memory. The founder of Brooklyn-based Cartwright New York has spent the past decade developing a distinctive body of hand-blown glass lighting that draws on the traditions of Venetian glassmaking while speaking in a contemporary language. Her newest works — the Solé and Sàlice collections, revealed at the Afternoon Light Fair in New York in May — continue that exploration, refining her vocabulary of restrained forms, luminous glass, and exquisitely calibrated light. “I have no interest in recreating historical objects,” she says. “What I do find interesting are the ideas behind objects — their use, technique, or form.” That distinction lies at the heart of her work. Cartwright approaches history not as a stylistic archive but as a source of ideas to reinterpret. Every design begins with research into Venetian glass, examining centuries of innovation before reducing designs to their essential qualities. Her process mirrors that philosophy. Sketches begin in pencil before being refined into precise drawings that serve as blueprints in the hot shop. There, together with master glassblower Adam Holtzinger, she transforms drawings into molten glass through an extended process of prototyping and refinement. Her first chandelier, Otto Luce, was designed in 2015 and still in production today (it is one of her bestsellers), came out of intensive study of the history and use of chandeliers in Europe. “I became obsessed with the idea of glass chandeliers. Why make elaborately complex, fragile glass structures and hang them in the air? Turns out, when you go back to the 17th century and look at the forms, chandeliers were mostly used in churches. It was only later that they made their way into the homes of nobles. After looking at hundreds of chandeliers, I edited the concept down to its essence: eight arms, glass shades, period.” The Solé Sconce is Cartwright’s homage to the sunset, with variations mirroring its different stages as it passes from the golden hour, to vibrant twilight, to dramatic dusk. Created in hand-blown Venetian-style puglioso glass, a technique that fills the glass with tiny internal bubbles and scatters light in a soft halo. It is then hot-gilded with a layer of pure gold to cast a rich, warm glow. In White, Rose Champagne, and Smoked Quartz. Photos by James Wade Photography.