About the art
Look up to spot the glittering installation spread across two floors of Cunz Hall. Intertwined, by Michele R. Gutlove of Design Studio GH, employs natural motifs to emphasize the connection between public health and the natural environment. Silvery forms dart through the larger pieces as if to suggest minnows in a stream. On the second floor, dramatic layers of dangling glass illustrate thriving plant life as well as birds swooping through blue skies dotted with delicate clouds. According to Gutlove’s statement, the various green leaves represent plants local to Ohio, including the Ohio buckeye, the silver maple, and the burr oak. The layers of Gutlove’s piece are inherently interconnected, as healthy water, soil and air are all necessary for a healthy community.
The piece almost seems to be in motion, as is appropriate to the ecosystem it represents. Healthy water is constantly in flow, and forests are continually whispering with leaves and the movement of sunlight. The migration of clouds and birds is a humbling reminder of the interdependence of different communities across vast geographic distances. The material and installation, however, also suggest fragility. The health of the natural world — and thus our own health — is a careful balance.
Collection of The Ohio State University. Funded through the Ohio Percent for Art program.
Material
Glass with prismatic crystals suspended on stainless steel cables
Location
Inside of Cunz Hall
About the Artist
Michele Gutlove’s understanding of the interconnectedness of architecture and public art is informed by her education. She received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in architecture and structural engineering from Arizona State University. Gutlove’s experience as an architect informs her work's formal qualities, such as the manipulation of light, and her process, which she considers to be deeply collaborative with her clients. Her preferred glassmaking process is known as fused glass, a process somewhere between cold glass work — the prime example of which would be stained-glass window-making — and techniques such as glassblowing that use glass in its entirely molten state. Fused glass refers to the sculptural use of cold glass that has been heated to the point of malleability through the use of a kiln. Through a repeated heating and annealing process, Gutlove fuses different layers of colored and iridescent glass, which she then manipulates into the myriad sculptural forms included in Intertwined.
