I wanted to experiment with the dimensions of my work to see how the variable of dimension affected the viewer’s experience with my work. The typical glass panels that I make are usually ¼” thick and Cross Grain is much thicker. This changed the way the viewer interacted with it.

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The direction of the rods of glass in Cross Grain was different from my other work. Rather than looking into the cross-sections of the murrini typically found in my work, I left the cane 10” long and stacked them so that the viewer could see along the side of the cane, rather than into its interior. This was done to emphasize that the work is thicker (1,200% thicker than most other panels).

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The focus of this piece lies in the very subtle movement of the shifting rods of colored cane and also in the contrast between flat, finished surfaces, and the remaining texture on one unpolished side. This texture was so interesting and added patterns similar to that found in wooden furniture, especially the quarter sawn white oak found in the work of my favorite furniture maker, Gustav Stickley.

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The title was inspired by the woodworking term “cross grained” which is defined by Collins dictionary as wood having the fibers arranged irregularly or in a direction that deviates from the axis of the piece. This is in reference to how the positioning of the presentation switched due to the direction of the fibers within.