sculptor
Richard Jolley
With a career spanning more than four decades, Richard Jolley is widely regarded as one of today’s most accomplished artists working in glass. His figurative sculptures draw on organic forms to explore the full spectrum of human experience—bridging the body, the natural world, and scientific inquiry.
Born in Wichita, Jolley moved to Oak Ridge in his youth and has remained deeply connected to East Tennessee ever since. In 1975, he made the unconventional choice to establish his glass studio in Knoxville, where he continues to live and work today.
Richard Jolley's work explores the human body in formats ranging from colored glass "line drawings" to brightly colored figures and totems. He is intrigued by the "pure abstraction" of science and art: "I find that if you explain too much about the alchemy, it dispels the myth and mystery that art should possess." The demanding production of Jolley's large-scale sculptures means he cannot work alone. One of his early assistants was glass artist Tommie Rush. They married in 1988 and now share a studio full time.
Jolley began his fine art studies at Tusculum College in 1970 and later completed his BFA at George Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University). He has participated in over 64 solo museum and gallery exhibitions across the country and internationally, and his work is included in the collections of several prominent institutions including the Carnegie Museum of Art, Corning Museum of Glass, Knoxville Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.
WITHIN THE POWER OF DREAMS AND THE WONDER OF INFINITY
Cycle of Life: Within the Power of Dreams and the Wonder of Infinity is one of the largest figurative glass-and-steel assemblages in the world. Commissioned in 2009 especially for the Knoxville Museum of Art, it is a game-changer for the KMA in a number of important ways.
Link to exhibit
CYCLE OF LIFE
