Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora C. Mace have worked collaboratively for the past 32 years after meeting at the Pilchuck Glass School in 1979. They have created a diverse body of work that includes both blown glass vessels with applied imagery and sculpture fabricated with wood, glass and other mixed media. The artists, respected for their innovative work, have recently concluded the series for which they are most know, large scale blown glass fruit and vegetable forms. They continue work on life size figurative wood and glass sculptures as well as outdoor bronze installations. Their newest glass work includes blown vessels and cast panels with illustrations of the ‘first facts’ of bird identification realized through applied glass powder drawings. They are also developing a series of blown vessels combining applied word with image, the subject organized by the alphabet.
Joey (born in Des Moines, Iowa, 1952) and Flora (born in Exeter, New Hampshire, 1949) have exhibited, lectured and taught extensively throughout the world. They taught for 12 years at Pilchuck Glass School. Their collaborative work is included in collections and museums around the world including the Corning Museum of Glass, NY; The Detroit Institute of Art Detroit, MI; The Boston Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA; Hokkaido Museum, Japan; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York NY; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Lausanne, Switzerland; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Toledo Art Museum, Toledo, OH and The National Museum of American Art, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Kirkpatrick/Mace were elected to the American Craft Fellows in 2005, interviewed for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art in 2006 and given the 2001 Chateau Ste. MIchelle Libensky Award by Pilchuck Glass School honoring outstanding contemporary artists working in glass. Kirkpatrick served as a trustee on the board of Pilchuck Glass School for 16 years.
Joey and Flora split their time between a home and studio in Seattle, Washington and a farm on the Olympic Peninsula near the Washington Coast.—kirkpatrick–mace.com
