Zimmerman Splash

Jeff Zimmerman is a contemporary sculptor whose primary medium is glass. He often makes use of the vessel form, creating pieces with mirrored, sometimes colorful surfaces and billowy forms that suggest movement.

Zimmerman grew up at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado, where he lived with his mother, a painter, and his stepfather, a sculptor. He enrolled at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1988 planning to major in anthropology, but a glassblowing class inspired him to change course. He switched to the BFA program at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee, spending hise summers working as an apprentice at Pilchuck Glass School, in Washington State, where he observed the studio practices of Lino Tagliapietra and Pino Signoretto . After completing his studies, he worked as a master glassblower at CIRVA, the International Center of Research on Glass and Visual Arts, in Marseille, France.

In 1994, Zimmerman became part of the B Team, an avant-garde glassblowing collaborative founded by Zesty Meyers and Evan Snyderman of R & Company gallery, which now represents Zimmerman’s work. The group conducted glassblowing-related performances at colleges and universities and exhibited its work at the New Museum for Contemporary Art in New York.

Zimmerman’s first solo exhibition was the 1999 “Anthropology Museum of the Future,” at UrbanGlass’s Robert Lehman Gallery. He has gained wide acclaim for his series of “Crumpled” vessels, which resemble deflated jars with reflective surfaces that gradually fade into opaque hues. The effect is surreal and dazzling. Using the most enchanting property of glass — its malleability at high temperatures — the sculptor breathes new life into an ancient form, the container.

Zimmerman’s work has been exhibited in New York at Sean Kelly Gallery, the Museum of Arts and Design and the Brooklyn Museum; and in Paris at Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery It can also be found in the permanent collections of the Boghossian Foundation, in Belgium, and in the Corning Museum of Glass, in New York.

Styling your home with vintage, new and antique sculptures means adding a touch that can meaningfully transform the space. By introducing a sculptural work as a decorative finish to any interior, you’re making a statement, whether you tend toward the dramatic or prefer to keep things casual with modest, understated art.

A single, one-of-a-kind three-dimensional figurative sculpture mounted on your dining room wall is a guaranteed conversation piece, while a trio of abstract works arranged on your living room bookshelves can add spontaneity to the collection of first-edition novels or artist monographs you’re displaying as well as draw attention to them. Figurative sculptures are representational works that portray a specific person, animal or object. And while decorating with busts, which are sculpted or cast figurative works, hasn’t exactly topped the list of design trends every year, busts are back. According to designer Timothy Corrigan, “They give humanity in a way that a more abstract sculpture can’t give.” Abstract sculptures, on the other hand, are not meant to show something specific. Instead, they invoke a mood or scene without directly stating what they are portraying.

Busts made of stone or metal may not seem like a good fit for your existing decor. Fortunately, there are many ways for a seemingly incongruous piece to fit in with the rest of your room’s theme. You can embrace a dramatic piece by making it the focal point of the room, or you can choose to incorporate several elements made out of the same material to create harmony in your space. If an antique or more dramatic piece doesn’t feel like you, why not opt for works comprising plastic, fiberglass or other more modern materials?

When incorporating sculpture into the design of your home — be it the playful work of auction hero and multimedia visionary KAWS, contemporary fiber art from Connecticut dealer browngrotta arts or still-life sculpture on a budget — consider proper lighting, which can bring out the distinctive aspects of your piece that deserve attention. And make sure you know how the size and form of the sculpture will affect your space in whole. If you choose a sculpture with dramatic design elements, such as sharp angles or bright colors, for example, try to better integrate this new addition by echoing those elements in the rest of your room’s design.

Get started on decorating with sculpture now — find figurative sculptures, animal sculptures and more on 1stDibs today.