Nature vs Nurture by Mike Bashford

Name: Nature vs Nurture by Mike Bashford
Start: 2025-03-07T17:00:00-07:00
End: 2025-03-07T21:00:00-07:00
Location: 6501 W Colfax Ave Unit D, Lakewood, CO

Schedule

Fri Mar 07 2025 at 05:00 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

6501 W Colfax Ave Unit D, Lakewood, CO | Lakewood, CO

What does “Nature vs Nurture” mean? There is, of course, the philosophical argument about human nature. Are we a product of our genes, with our future determined at conception or are we more a product of our environment after birth? Nature vs nurture could also describe the conflict between the natural world and the man-made one: trees and mountains vs cities and roads.
Glass is a medium that expresses this dichotomy well. Glass has a nature: it wants to be a certain way. It wants to be round with a specific thickness and what it does when melted is try and get to its preferred state by flowing and moving. Glass does not naturally tend to create squares; it doesn’t form crystal structures. Glass colors react with each other. Melt turquoise and yellow glass next to each other and they will react and form a brown stripe in between. When a glass artist creates a piece, to what extent are they letting glass do its thing vs forcing it to do what the artist wants? I like to create on the edge of that dichotomy. Let glass express its nature but nurture it along the way.
This exhibit features pieces that represent nature and pieces that represent something more man-made. Many of the pieces have both: glass was melted, allowed to flow and react, then formed into a bowl, plate, or bead. Straight lines and ordered geometric structures speak to my intellect, but nature and the wonder of seeing what the glass will create speaks to my soul.

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