Julia & Robin Rogers
Artist processes
Physically and metaphorically we put our minds, hearts and hands together to create sculptural works. We use glass as a material because we are enlivened by its inherent qualities; its luminosity, viscosity, and seductive flow. Our inspiration is drawn from the natural world, personal experience, family life, music, psychology, and science.
Complex and mystifying, the human mind drives us, but the subtle inner workings remain, to certain extent, unknown. Delving into the psyche, our work explores the human mind to reveal a metaphorical interior of ideas, emotions, and mystery. Floating in the vast sea of our own thought we are alone. This solitude, both deeply haunting and beautiful is ours to contemplate, conquer, and call our own. Our minds never stop imagining the possibilities of what can be explored, discovered, shared, and executed.
In our series, “Architecture of the Mind,” heads are turned into buildings whose history and occupancy is contemplated. Each building has its own unique story, a background different from the one living next door. Community is formed, despite the differences, allowing life to thrive in this modern, fast paced world. Thoughts from day to day life, memories, or even multiple personalities are reflected in these works.
Animalia is also a driving and important theme in the narrative of our work. Since the advent of human expression, animals have been ever present. We feel that animals have a certain wisdom and intuition that brings alignment with the natural world. There is something to be learned from the animal spirit; especially in today’s fast paced digital life where it is easy to forget that we, ourselves, are inseparable from nature.
Discovering how to translate our ideas into this magic material can be both challenging and rewarding. After scale drawings are made, we decide who will make which parts of the sculpture and hot work begins. Once all the parts are made, we work with a skilled team of assistants for the final assembly. The finished glass is often combined with other materials such as fur, wood, and steel to complete the sculpture.
In a small hot glass studio in Western Montana in 2001, the paths of Julia (then Boriss) and Robin Rogers intersected and eventually merged. At this shop, called Cloud Cap Glass, their friendship grew and their glass practices began to overlap. They both became part owners of the studio and worked together, operating the small business and creating glass works.
In 2005, to pursue Master of Fine Art degrees, the couple decided to leave their beloved Montana. They re-envisioned their glass studio and created a trailer-mounted portable glass studio. With their tools, dogs and one year old son packed up, they set out for Southern Illinois. For professional opportunities, the glassy family has lived in Carbondale, Illinois; Bowling Green, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Norfolk, Virginia.
In 2010, after nearly ten years of working together and assisting with each other’s work, the duo decided to start creating artwork collaboratively. In these bodies of work, every step of the process, from idea development to finishing touches, is completed by both artists. This method of working has led to the creation of pieces that Julia and Robin are excited to make and proud to exhibit. Through the synergy of this collaboration, the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.
Currently, Robin is the Studio Manager and Program Director at the Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Studio. Julia is an adjunct professor of glass at Virginia Wesleyan University as well as teaches and demonstrates for the Chrysler Museum of Art Perry Glass Studio.
2020
Fins, Whales, and Octopus Tales, Kittrell Riffkind Art Glass, Dallas, TX.
There’s no Place Like Home, Norfolk International Airport, Norfolk, VA.
Silver, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI.
2019
* The Surreal and the Fantastic, Duncan McClellan Gallery, St Petersburg, FL.
* Architecture of the Heart, Mind and Soul, PopBlossom Gallery, Norfolk, VA.
Let Them Eat Cake, a second helping, Barron Gordon Gallery, Norfolk, VA.
Go Figure, Peninsula Fine Art Center, Newport News, VA.
2018
*Crystalline Dissonance, Chrysler Museum of Glass Studio, Norfolk, VA.
SOFA Chicago, Mattson’s Fine Art, Chicago, IL.
VGG member show, Slover library, Norfolk, VA.
Virginia Wesleyan Faculty Show, Virginia Beach, VA.
Murano Glass Fashion Show, Murano, Italy.
2017
Small Works Tall Tales, Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA.
Slide Show, Glass Wheel Gallery, Norfolk, VA.
Embracing Narrative, Portsmouth Cultural Art Center, Portsmouth, VA.
Now Arriving, Norfolk International Airport, Norfolk, VA.
Visiting Artist Show, Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts, Lake Worth, FL.
2016
Habatat Invitational, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI.
*Instinctual Insight, Suffolk Art Center, Suffolk, VA.
*Animalia Fantastica, Kittrell Riffkind Art Glass Gallery, Dallas, TX.
Glass Fashion Show 2016, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
Glass Fashion Show 2016, Toledo Glass Pavilion, Toledo, OH
Virginia Glass Guild Annual Jurried Show, Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, VA.
TCC Faculty Show, TCC Visual Art Center, Portsmouth, VA.
Native, Work Release, Norfolk, VA.
2015
Provenance, Glass Wheel Studio, Norfolk, VA.
We Can Create, Public Work for NEON(new energy of Norfolk), Downtown Norfolk Council, Norfolk, VA.
The Peninsula Glass Guild Annual Show, Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, VA.
Fired Up, Piedmont Arts, Martinsville, VA.
*Percipient Minds, solo show, TCC Visual Art Center, Portsmouth, VA.
Super Bowls, The Neil Britton Art Gallery, Virginia Wesleyan College, Virginia Beach, VA.
Rhythms of Glass, Jacksonville Center for the Arts, Floyd, VA.
2014
The Space Between Here and There, pop-up show, The Wheel Gallery, Norfolk, VA.
Essentials, The Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
I’m Burning For You, (performance) Chrysler Museum Glass Studio, Norfolk, VA.
*GmH Biotechnologies, Vestibule 102, Chrysler Museum Glass Studio, Norfolk, VA.
The Peninsula Glass Guild Annual Show, Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, VA.
TCC Faculty Show, TCC Visual Art Center, Portsmouth, VA.
2013
The Peninsula Glass Guild Annual Show, Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, VA.
Grey Matter, Chrysler Museum Glass Staff, Suffolk Cultural Arts Center, Suffolk, VA.
*Hocking College 2013 Glass Invitational, Hocking College Gallery, Nelsonville, OH.
Phantom, The Glass Theater, Chrysler Museum Glass Studio, Norfolk, VA.
2012
The Peninsula Glass Guild Annual Show, Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, VA.
*Animalia Fantastica, Hudson Gallery, Sylvania, OH.
Collective Conductivity, Chrysler Museum Glass Studio, Norfolk, VA.
2011 2011 Outdoor Sculpture Competition, Cary Visual Art Center, Cary, NC.
The Now Wow Project, Hudson Gallery, Sylvania, OH.
CCS New Glass, Michigan Hot Glass, Detroit, MI.
Many Different Hats, Center Gallery, Detroit, MI.
2010
Art Prize, Fredrick Miejer Sculpture Garden, Grand Rapids, MI.
Hot Glass, the Edison Building Atrium, Toledo, OH.
Iron Exhibition, Franconia Sculpture Park, Franconia, MN.
Toledo Emerges, Walter E. Terhune Gallery, Toledo, OH.
