Low Whooping Crane

Artist / Maker Mary Ann "Toots" Zynsky ((American, b. 1951))

Date2023

MediumFused and molded glass threads.

Dimensions13 3/8 × 29 3/4 × 13 in. (34 × 75.6 × 33 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LinePurchased by University Museums with funds from the Joyce Tomlinson Brewer Fund for Art Acquisition and Dorothy and Robert Rust. In the permanent collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM2024.107

Status

Not on view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: Known for her exquisite glass sculptures made through the unique manipulation of filet de verre or glass threads, Toots Zynksy’s creations defy conventional understanding of glass as a medium and exploit light as a method in the transformation of color and form. Zynsky graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she studied with Dale Chihuly in the early years of studio glass. An interest in barbed wire with glass led to the creation of “spun glass” objects, then forming glass threads into networks. After initially pulling glass threads, an arduous process for the amount of thread needed, she worked with a partner to develop a glass thread machine. During a display of her work, she ended up squeezing a vessel just removed from the kiln and discovered the mode of expression she had been seeking in her sculptures. Zynsky now begins her process by laying the glass threads across a fire-resistant board, essentially like painting with the thread to create the desired colors and effects, the glass is then heated and fused together and slumped over forms to create a bowl or vase shape. Zynsky then removes the vessel from the kiln while wearing protective gear and hand shapes the form, squeezing and manipulating to create the final undulating silhouette. Throughout her career, Zynsky has explored different themes. With Low Whooping Crane, she was inspired by the continuing decline of bird populations and species around the world due to habitat loss and climate change. Each expression represents a bird that is endangered, of which the Whooping Crane is one of the most endangered in North America.