Rustico by Jose Chardiet

Jose Chardiet (1956- ) was born in Havanna, Cuba, but raised in New Haven, Connecticut, after his family immigrated to the United States in 1960. He received his BA from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven in 1980 and his MFA in 1983 from Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, where he was an artist-in-residence until 1985. The following year he opened his own studio in New Haven, which he maintained until 1990. Throughout the ensuing years, he joined the faculty at several prestigious art schools such as Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington; Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina; Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Deer Isle, Maine; and the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. In 2000, Chardiet opened the Jose Chardiet Studio in Providence, Rhode Island, which he currently maintains.¹

Rustico, a 28×11×7–inch hand-blown and cast-glass sculpture, is one of a series of works inspired when Chardiet toured a display titled “Primitivism in the 20th Century Art” at the Detroit Institute of Art in Detroit, Michigan, in 1984.² The bright flashing colors and twisting animated figures in Rustico deliver a sense of native totem poles, and the placement of these in the solid block of cast glass alludes to the timeless nature of ancient cave paintings. Rustico might also call to mind an exotic flower garden or hastily placed floral arrangement. Those familiar with glasswork can see the influence gained from Chardiet's experience at Pilchuck Glass School.

Rustico is located on 19th floor of the Gonda Building on the Mayo Clinic campus in Rochester, Minnesota.