Florida Airport Welcomes “SunSkySea” Glass Art Installation

Glass artist Guy Kemper recently created and installed a 46-foot long, 6-foot high blown glass wall at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. The project’s title, “SunSkySea,” reflects the renovated airport’s new tropical theme. The wall, which features images of the sun, sky, clouds and the ocean, separates the passengers’ entry and a secured boarding area.

The Pinellas County Cultural Affairs Public Art Airport Project Selection Committee, in partnership with St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, selected Kemper, who is based in Versailles, Ky., from 45 international glass artists. The Clearwater project took Kemper about three months to complete.

“I am very different from the mainstream glass movement. I use the ancient techniques of blowing glass in triple layers, called double flash, of two color flashes on a clear base. I build up layers of asphaltum as a resist, using hydrofluoric acid to etch away the layers. I do this in several steps to make the painting emerge from the glass,” explains Kemper. “My goal is to render the painting as much as possible in pure blown glass, with minimal use of glass paint.”

Kemper says he employs this method because for artwork, “glass as a material is ideally about light and a sort of ethereal energy. Not to say other techniques aren’t also valid and beautiful, but nothing can compare to blown glass for the way it refracts light and its sheer sensuousness as a material.”

He adds, “For Clearwater, I would say I worked on several levels. It’s art, it’s architectural ornament and it also addresses the psychological situation of the architectural space: the interminable security screening. What could be more soothing than hanging out at the beach?”