April 5 - May 26, 2024, Wednesday - Sunday | 12:00 - 5:00 pm
108|Contemporary is excited to present our second exhibition of 2024 with By Design: Kayla Ohlmer and Ryan Kepler, a duo exhibition focused on the medium of glass on view from April 5 – May 26, 2024.
Exhibition Opening:
Friday, April 5, 2024 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Artist Talk:
Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 5:30 pm
ASL interpretation provided
By Design:
Using a range of traditional and experimental glassmaking techniques, both artists’ work highlights different qualities of glass and examines how those characteristics affect the way in which we interact with the material. Both bodies of work explore themes of value, perception, natural phenomenon, and the sublime. Through exploring the materiality of glass, this exhibition investigates the ways in which different traits, shapes, and material properties create a subjective perception of beauty and value. Their individual practices challenge and compliment the way in which the other uses the material.
Both artists often use contrasting textures and forms to influence their work and explore the physical properties of glass. Kepler uses glass as a medium to distort, defuse, or enhance the way light interacts with its environment through diffusion, color density, pattern, and illusion. Ohlmer uses the material qualities of glass, form, and texture to investigate themes of duality, distortion, and perception. This work is a mixture of experimental processes informed by traditional glassmaking methods used to create an array of sculptural works.
About the Exhibiting Artists:
Kayla Ohlmer: Growing up in Oklahoma, Kayla began blowing glass in Oklahoma City when she was in high
school. She attended Centre College in Kentucky where she graduated with a BA in Studio Art
in 2014. After graduating she worked as a Studio Assistant at the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio
in Norfolk VA and has been privileged to learn at other institutions such as Pilchuck Glass
School and Penland School of Craft. In 2020, she received her MFA from Southern Illinois
University in Carbondale and is currently the Program Director at Tulsa Glassblowing School in
Oklahoma.
Ryan Kepler: Ryan Kepler, born in 1993, is an artist and craftsperson living and working in Tulsa Oklahoma.
Growing up he spent time around his grandfather’s foundry and was naturally drawn to being a
craftsperson. He began working with glass in 2011 at Palomar College in San Diego, CA. Over
the next decade, Kepler continued his education in glassmaking as a student and teaching
assistant at Pilchuck Glass School, and Penland School of Craft. During this time, he has worked
as a gaffer and with various artists throughout the country. In his own practice, he creates work
that exemplifies the intuitive qualities of the material. Kepler is currently the Director of
Promotions and Sales at Tulsa Glassblowing School.
