Allegra Marquart

Work samples

Shirts for swans

Cast, cut and painted glass shapes mounted above panel of sewn thread and appliqué, 23x45", 2019

Here is my short version of an old tale recorded by the Grimm Brothers.

A young princess unknowingly put a curse on her six brothers by picking lilies in the garden. The boys were turned into swans and

could only be rescued if their sister made a shirt for each of them starting with collecting flax and weaving the fabric. She was not allowed to speak for the entire seven years it would take to produce the shirts.

A prince discovered her and forcibly took her to be his wife. Over the years she suffered much abuse and for her silence she was accused of being a witch. Her husband prepared a fire to burn her at the stake. The young woman finished her task just in time. Her brothers, the Swans, were circling above when she ran to the field to deliver the shirts. She was pursued by the prince but as the swans took possession of the shirts they were transformed into young men who over-powered the prince and took him to die in the fire that had been prepared for their sister.
If Only I Could Meet Someone Perfect

Cast, cut and painted glass shapes mounted above panel of sewn thread and appliqué, 24"x32", 2019

This piece is not based on an old fable but rather on my own collection of refrains about the longing for a companion and the obstacles that sometimes prevent a happy outcome. Each figure is caught in a vessel which represents the habits, comforts, expectations and assumptions that can get in the way of getting together.
The Fisherman’s Plea

Cast, cut and painted glass shapes mounted above panel of sewn thread and appliqué, 24"x33", 2019

Here is my version of a story told by the Grimm brothers.

One day a very poor man went fishing, hoping to catch something for himself and his wife to eat. Soon after he dropped his line in the water there was an enormous tug for he hooked a large flounder.

The fish could talk! It begged the man to release him and promised to could grant the man any of his wishes if the man gave him his freedom. The man, so the story goes, said "deliver me from a fish that talks!" He unhooked the flounder and returned to his hovel to tell his wife the story.

The wife was enraged that her husband hadn't made a wish and sent him back to the shore to call the fish and ask for a pretty little cottage.

Here comes the plea (my favorite part):

"Oh Fish of the Sea, come, listen to me, For Alice, my wife, the plague of my life, Has sent me to beg a boon of thee."

Alice got her cottage. Then she wanted more and more and more. She demanded everything from clothes to a castle, from crystal to being King and she got what she wished. This went on until she desired to order the sun and the moon when to rise and set. She sent her husband off to the shore again and as he approached a fierce storm began to rage. The man could barely remain standing but he made his plea and the Fish came.

The man told Fish what Alice wanted this time and Fish said, "Go home. She is back in the hovel". And that was the end of any wishes coming true for Alice.
If Only I Had Red Wings

If Only I Had Red Wings, Fused and sandblasted glass, 18 x 18"

About Allegra

In the mid 1980’s a series of life changing events led to a rush of images from which I’ve never recovered. Some were based on fantasy. Some described everyday events in an exaggerated way. Others interpreted age-old fables as vehicles for expression of universal experience.

In realizing these graphic images on glass I've never separated from my background as a printmaker. The high contrast, limited color and emphasis on shape were all in place as large complicated relief prints… more

View Allegra's Resume

Cut Glass and Thread

When I chose to combine copper and glass I wasn't thinking about any classification of my work such as "multimedia" or "cross over" art. I just thought the pieces looked best that way.

The next development was a background for the glass cut-out figures. I didn't want it to be glass. Paper and drawing was not an answer and even copper wire seemed clunky. Instead I began to consider thread.

Out came my old sewing machine rarely used since I made clothes for my daughter. It took weeks of trial and error but during all that, new possibilities for color, texture and especially line, opened up. I've been missing linear elements since I started using glass.

I learned I could stitch on a water soluble plastic material and when done with all sewing I could dissolve the plastic and only the threads would be left leaving an open, delicate looking background panel that complements and comments on the glass shapes which are mounted slightly in front of it. The glass and the threads are so fragile in different ways.

The first piece to come into being was "Dancer One". The woman in the spotlight throws off lines of action in red and gold as she dances before an audience of an old goat, hound dogs, a pig, an ass, a Tom cat and a cock. Their colorful, or off- color, yells are represented by red, yellow and purple diagonals.

Then came new interpretations of The Princess and the Pea, and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Now work with thread and glass is dominating my imagination.

The Hare in the Moon

2016, Cast, cut, painted glass w sewn thread panel. Approx. 28"x 28", 7 lbs.
The Rhinoceros and Elephant Argue

2016, Cast, cut, painted glass w sewn thread panel. Approx. 28"x30", 5 lbs.
The Cat Who Wanted To Be A Woman

2016, Cast, cut, painted glass w sewn thread panel. Approx. 24"x40", 6 lbs.
The Cat Who Wanted To Be A Woman (detail)

2016, Cast, cut, painted glass w sewn thread panel. Approx. 24"x40", 6 lbs.
The Coyote Who Wanted To Dance With The Stars

2016, Cast, cut, painted glass w sewn thread panel. Approx 17"x 23", 2 lbs.
The Princess and the Pea

2015, Cast, cut, painted glass w sewn thread panel. Approx. 14"x28", 2 lbs.
Frog Considers the Dragonfly (Prey in the Garden series)

2018, Eight cast, cut, painted glass shapes mounted over threaded panel, 15"x40"
Dancer I

2015, Cast, cut, painted glass w sewn thread panel. Approx. 14" x28", 2lbs

Cut Glass Shapes

Here the animals have been liberated from the boundaries of the square or rectangle. Now they're free to roam and carry on in human-like ways. The narrative is not so tight either but the characters and the situations are familiar; from a jazz band and a jug band to a hippo lounging on the beach to a lascivious fox eying a pink rabbit on the bus. All the figures are wall mounted with standoffs that fit into brackets. The animals in a bicycle race and the bands include shapes acid cut from my old copper etching plates.

Red Glass Jazz Band

2015, Cast, cut, painted glass and copper, Approx. 40"x 40", 7 lbs.
Red Glass Jazz Band (detail)

2015, Cast, cut, painted glass and copper, Approx. 40"x 40", 7 lbs.
Blue Glass Jug Band

2015, Cast, cut, painted glass and copper, Approx. 30"x 30", 6 lbs.
On Bicycles and Skateboards

2014, Cast, cut, painted glass and copper, Approx. 4'x 6', 10 lbs.
On Bicycles and Skateboards (detail)
On the Beach

2014, Cast, cut, painted glass, Approx. 4' x 8', 14 lbs.
On the Beach (detail)
On the Beach (detail)

Narrow Glass Panels

In all the images, from prints to glass, drawing is the foundation. The images go through many changes before being committed to a final home. The long, narrow format of the relief prints, as well as the use of the narrative carried over to glass. The panels (8"x44") sport color on one or both sides which I fired on first. Then the drawing was transferred to a resist which was cut to remove all negative space. Then the piece was sandblasted.

The Sky is Falling

2009, fused, sandblasted glass, 8"x 44", approx. 12lbs.
The Elephant's Child

2009, fused, sandblasted glass, 8"x44", approx. 12 lbs.
Sour Grapes

2010, fused, sandblasted glass, 8"x 44", approx. 12 lbs.
The Duck and the Kangaroo

2010, Fused, sandblasted glass, 8"x44", approx. 12 lbs.

Square Glass Panels

For shorter stories the square panel is perfect. All are 18"x18". Over time more color has crept in accompanied by evidence of brushwork. The amount of light passing through the glass changes everything. That's why these glass pieces are so alive.

Wasp Mediates a Dispute

2014, fused, sandblasted, painted glass, 18"x18", 7 lbs.
The Beaver and the Porcupine

2011, fused, sandblasted, painted glass, 18"x 18", 7lbs.
The Beaver and the Turtle

2011, Fused, sandblasted, painted glass, 18"x18", 7 lbs.
Ducks Don't Care and Swans Don't Tell

2011, Fused, Sandblasted, painted glass, 18"x18", 7 lbs.
Why Frogs Don't Hesitate

2011, fused, sandblasted, painted glass, 18"x18", 7 lb.
Singing to Fears

2013, fused, sandblasted, painted glass, 18"x18", 7 lbs.
Singing to Troubles

2013, Fused, sandblasted, painted glass, 18"x18", 7 lbs.

Vessels

Hawk Hunting (Prey in the Garden series)

2018, Vitreous enamels reverse painted on blown glass vessel, 9"tall
Yellow Bird (Prey in the Garden series)

2018, Vitreous enamels reverse painted on blown glass vessel, 9"tall
In the Green Beans (Prey in the Garden series)

2018, Vitreous enamels reverse painted on blown glass vessel, 8"tall (side 1)
How the Leopard Got It's Spots (Prey in the Garden series)

2018, Vitreous enamels reverse painted on blown glass vessel, 10"tall

Relief Prints

All of the relief prints listed here were hand cut out from a soft matrix adhered to Masonite to form long narrow paper panels which are folded at the the top to allow them to hang from a bar. After hand printing some images were given another color using painting as is the case with The Red Shoes and The Bad Bargain.

Each print is an interpretation of an old fable or story. They read from top to bottom and left to right.

The ancient and most graphic quality of the relief print complements these very graphic stories which were often told in dramatic fashion in order to get across important messages about human efforts and the sometimes bad decisions we make and the consequences.

The last three images are panels I'm cutting for a big print called Half Chick. It's from a Spanish Folk Tale. One partially cut panel has my very high tech material and tool alongside. Of course the words will be right way around when printed.

The chick was born with only one leg and one wing but all the same he's rebellious and ungrateful and runs away from home. He refuses to help Water, Fire or Wind so he ends up in Hot Water. But Wind whisks him out of the pot and places him on a steeple to be a weather vane where he is at the mercy of the Wind ever after.

The Bird, the Mouse and the Sausage

2005, relief print on paper panels of varying lengths, longest is 69"
The Red Shoes
Fighting Giants

2003, Relief print on paper panels, each 16"x72"
The Man Who Left Home

2003, Relief print on paper panels

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