Robert Ore

Bio

In 1986, Robert Allen Ore attended a lecture during his studies of ancient history at the University of Kansas on the underwater excavation of a shipwreck off the coast of Anatolia.  Fascinated by the works that were pieced back together and searching for classes in the next semester, imagine his surprise at finding a ‘Glass forming I’ class listed.  At Chamney Barn, on west campus, he was hooked.  

His first personal studio, in Lawrence, was called “Bubba’s Hot Glass.” It operated sporadically from 1990 – 2003 by selling primarily to broke students, at the Kansas Union, headed home for Christmas.  After grudgingly graduating in 2000 and moving closer to family in 2016, Robert’s current studio “Robert Ore Hot Glass” became a reality in Louisburg, Kansas.  

“Robert Ore Hot Glass” fires 2-3 times a year with an electric, freestanding pot furnace using traditional techniques and tools.  It is a self-made, one-man operation taking glass from a solid to a liquid, drawing it out and then shaping it to make a solid again.  Really quite fascinating. 

Artist Statement

I love the feeling of glass in its molten form. The feel of a viscosity in motion. It’s a juggle between heat and cool; balance and rotation. My fondness is for the overlay. Two separate blown bubbles, stuck together, one wrapping up and embracing the other.  In each piece, once cooled, a stasis of motion.  The edge of the outer glass rolls and undulates around the inner vessel. Forever in motion, as we would imagine waves on a distant shore.

exhibitions