will dexter

"I love working with glass as a physical activity that results in objects which are beautiful," Will explains. "Although I explore many ideas, I seem to return to images that have an aquatic feeling. Perhaps this reflects my childhood living on Florida’s Gulf Coast, my education in marine biology, or maybe it’s because I respond to the sensual wetness of glass."

His mastery of the challenging glass medium allows him to use precious dichroic glass to achieve extraordinary visual effects that are unique to each piece.

The word dichroic is Greek — di means two and chroic means color. Dichroic glass was developed in the 1960s for use in high technology applications. It manipulates light in two ways, transmitting one color while reflecting another. It appears to change colors when the viewer moves in relation to the piece, providing a kinetic effect.

"No two pieces are alike and evolution is a constant mandate for me," Will says. "I enjoy designing and solving problems, which makes taking on large corporate commissions especially viable and interesting for me."

Will studied marine biology for three years at the University of Miami, then moved on to the University of Wisconsin to study glass art for two years. Focused on becoming a glass artist, he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in glass from the Tyler School of Art, PA, and his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in glass from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design.

Having worked with glass since 1974, Will established a studio, named Taylor Backes, in 1981 in partnership with his wife and fellow glass artist Karla Trinkley.

Karla also received her degrees in glass art: a BFA from the Tyler School of Art and her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. A respected glass artist in her own right, Karla has exhibited her own work internationally and collaborates on some pieces with Will.

The artists sign collaborative pieces with the studio name, Taylor Backes; they sign their individual creations with their last name.

Will is a glass instructor at the Tyler School of Art. Will and Karla have lectured and taught glass at the world renowned Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle; the Penland Craft School, NC; and at the Rhode Island School of Design. Will has taught glass at Tulane University and has studied with "dozens of master glass artists" including the revered Italian glass maestro Lino Tagliapietra.

In 1990, Will was honored with a Masterworks Fellowship by the Creative Glass Center of America, Millville, NJ. In 1996, he served as Curator of Time Lines, an exhibition of glass sculpture at Pennsylvania State University, Reading.

Will and Karla’s collaborative work has been exhibited throughout the world and is included in the permanent collections of numerous museums including the Philadelphia Museum of Art; The American Craft Museum, NY; and The Chase Manhattan Bank Collection.

Work by Will Dexter has been exhibited worldwide at leading galleries, universities and museums, including: the Museum of the State of Rhode Island; the Museum of American Glass, Wheaton Village, NJ; the Wustum Museum, WI; the Museum at Hartwick College, NY; the Florida Gulf Coast Art Center; the James A. Michner Art Center, PA; Wake Forest University, NC; Bowling Green State University, OH; and the Tyler School of Art Temple University, PA.

In 1984, his work was included in Americans in Glass, an international European touring exhibition organized by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin and Germany’s Kunstmuseum, Dusseldorf. His work was included in World Glass Now ’82, a traveling exhibition held at several Japanese museums, including the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo; the Tokyo Daimaru; and the Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya.

Other exhibitions of Will Dexter’s work have been held at the
National
Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan; the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Feria Internacional De Ceramica, Vidrio, Valencia, Spain; and the Glasmuseum Wertheim, Germany.

New Glass, a now legendary traveling exhibition organized in 1979 by the Corning Museum of Glass, NY, included Will Dexter’s work. The show traveled for several years to major museums in England, France and Japan and the U.S., including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

Among the many public, private and corporate permanent collections that include work by Will Dexter are the High Museum of Art, GA; the Corning Museum of Glass, NY; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, WI; the Columbia Museum of Art, SC; the F. Pfannebecker Collection, PA; the Borosky Collection, PA; the Cincinnati Bell Collection, OH; the Pilchuck Collection, Stanwood, WA; the Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana; the Capital Bank
Collection, Houston; the Price Waterhouse Collection, PA; the Wurttembergisches Landes Museum, Stuttgart, Germany; the Galerie International Du Verre, Biot, France; the Wheaton American Glass
Museum, NJ; The National Museum of American History Washington DC; and the Smithsonian Institution.