Composed of glass sculpted into flowers, Kate Clements's Stain is a gravity-defying sculpture with a sinister message. The sculpture is composed of 43 separate pieces made of fused glass frit (crushed glass). Each component is tied to the next with fishing line. Toward the bottom of this floating cloud, the sparkling, delicate flowers begin to bleed and scab over.  

In this sculpture, Clements explores the qualities shared by glass and the human body. Like glass, the body has resilience and strength, but it can also be destroyed with a single violent act. The artist chose to shape the glass into glittering, translucent flowers, reminiscent of floral-patterned textiles. Clements uses the classic beauty of flowers and irresistible sparkle of glass to hide—for at least a moment—the nervous and violent undercurrent of this vulnerable floating artwork.  

-Linnea Seidling, Assistant Curator of Glass