MODERN PRIMITIVE SHOW

Alder Gallery you will see Jason Harris’s new series of sculpted glass Tiki’s will bring a smile to your face and leave you with good luck.  Harris has been studying TIKI culture along with modern American cartoon and pop culture bringing them together in his first one-man show “MODERN PRIMITIVE.” You will see 12 glass sculpted Tiki’s ranging from 7” to 20” tall, all with personalities and personal possessions.

Harris chose this theme because of his attraction to the South Pacific and Americana cultures.  He is drawn to the mythological sense of the Tiki and its influence on history, religion and modern culture. The Tiki is a modern fiction phenomena.  Starting in the 1920’s, Americans were crazy about this Polynesian paradise and major hotels and restaurants around the country opened Tiki bars, Tiki restaurants and Tiki social clubs.

Harris’s Tiki’s are all one of a kind with their own personalities and accessories.  “Sculpting Tikis in glass has been a very creative process.  I’m trying to bring together the Tiki Idol through the medium of modern art glass and storytelling. I am fascinated with this theme and plan to continue, my imagination goes wild with possibilities,” Harris says.  “Creating these Idols out of glass is a process of development, trial and error and knowing how to work the glass at the right moment.”  Harris found inspiration for his Tiki art by studying Los Angeles artists, Leonard Schmaltz and Shag, known as the granddaddies of 1950’s Tiki Americana.