Dale Chihuly at Golden Gate Park’s deYoung Museum

Vee Hua 華婷婷2 min readJune 23, 2008Add comment

Dale Chihuly is from Seattle, and as a result, his works are seen fairly often around the Pacific Northwest. To first time viewers, Chihuly’s works are striking and eye-catching… to those who have seen many of his pieces, however, the lack of diversity becomes a little stifling.

I’m in the boat as one who has seen quite a bit of Chihuly’s work, and I was subsequently a bit hesitant to discover his newest exhibit was in town at the deYoung gallery. I simply expected an extension of work that I have seen much too much of already. Not to mention the additional $5 price tag and the line you had to wait in in order to actually see the exhibit…

To my pleasant surprise, however, due to creative installation trickery and fancy lighting, the exhibit was amazing (and yes, well worth the $5). Chihuly’s glassworks made a showing, of course, but his sketches and drawings did as well. Personally I found them to be less eye-catching, but I’m sure someone enjoyed their relatively abstract and rough natures.


Neon glass pieces greet us upon our entering.


Chihuly’s “Persians” series. The work was great, but the descriptions were painful at best. To loosely sum it up, the description of these pieces touched upon how the pieces seemed foreign and unique and therefore reminded him of foreign lands… and to him, foreign lands meant things like Asia, like Persia… and as a result, these were called “Persians.” Uhhh, no. No.


A chorus of angels sings.


Exploring the relationship between cold and still, hot and flowing (like magma).


“Reeds” series. By this point I was no longer reading the inspirations, so I couldn’t tell you that part.


Two boats carrying a million glass pieces, floating on a sea of black.


“Chandeliers” series.


More from the “Chandeliers” series.


Nothing much here — just a ceiling of glass. What was really cool about this all-white room were the rainbows cast on the walls from the array of glasswork.


An assortment of odd freaks and fancies.


And more. The end.

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Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and artist who splits their time between Oaxaca, Mexico, and Seattle, Washington. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Editor-in-Chief of International Examiner, and an Environmental Justice reporter at South Seattle Emerald. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Their latest short film, Reckless Spirits (2022), is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy; the feature film version is slated for production in 2026. In 2025, they premiere their documentary short film, Hunt's Trading Post, set just outside of the Navajo and Ute Nations.

In 2017, Vee released the narrative short film, Searching Skies — which touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States — and co-organized The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!. They have a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota and are pursuing a certificate in Incidencias en Problemas Socioambientales at the Universidad del Medio Ambiente in Mexico.

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