Richard Harned
Richard Harned (born 1951) is an American contemporary kinetic sculptor and glass artist. Harned trained under Dale Chihuly in the 1970s at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with other artists of the American Glass Movement, including Bruce Chao and Tom Kreager. In 1974, he established the Abstract Glass studio in Providence, Rhode Island. After graduating from and teaching at RISD, he also taught glass art at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and the University of Tennessee. He joined the faculty of Ohio State University in 1982. Artwork. Harned’s work has evolved from small utilitarian pieces  and abstract glass objects to room-sized kinetic sculptures built to explore the use of light, movement, and technology in art. His message is about the connection of ideas to the dynamism of the physical world. His sculpture combines the aesthetic beauty of glass with the drama of complex moving constructions, embellished with decorative and symbolic elements. His pieces are often presented with a humorous post-modern warning about technology’s impact on nature. The kinematic works of the 1980s and 1990s were built with elements of welded steel, often combined with neon lighting and glass, rotating television monitors, computers , and globes. He floated neon and fluorescent light sculptures in water, combining the natural reflection of water with the glow of artificial light, and the unnatural mix of electricity and water. Affiliations. Harned has been an important artist of American Glass movement starting in the 1970s. He founded and directed the Glass Axis workshop, an organization to promote glass art in Columbus, Ohio. He served as president of the Glass Art Society (1987–1988), an international professional association. He has worked at the Pilchuck School in Washington, which was established by Dale Chihuly as an international school for glass artists. He  has also been a visiting artist in the Netherlands, Japan, and Germany.