*“My Rusty Nail Moment” Detail Shot - Erin Z Zerbe 2024*

I turned 40 in January and as surprise birthday gift, my family bought me a glassblowing lesson. I was instantly hooked. The process requires your entire body, complete mental focus, and is incredibly taxing. I instantly fell in love! As a digital media artist who has always had an interest in interdisciplinary and trans-media approaches, I have been excited to begin incorporating my budding glassblowing skills within my digital media practice.

I am currently working on a new body of work that will do just that: marry elements of digital media and design with hand crafted blown glass. This work is in progress, but I am too excited to keep it all hush/hush so I want to share one of my first pieces from this new collection! The body of work doesn’t have a formal title yet, but this piece is called “My Rusty Nail Moment”

Many of the works in this new series are inspired by my recent divorce. The works explore the liminality of a marriage falling apart, and the transformation that comes from profound pain and grief. This first work in this series touches on many of those elements. The piece is created with handcrafted nails embedded in clear molten glass. While the glass is liquid hot (approximately 2000 degrees) I carefully embedded the final nail, creating a small puncture for it rest. Below is a brief statement about this piece.

"My Rusty Nail Moment" is a glass art piece that explores the theme of quiet acceptance and moving on, drawing inspiration from a poignant excerpt in Ken Kesey's novel "Sometimes a Great Notion." In this piece, I encapsulate handcrafted rusty nails within clear glass, inviting viewers to delve into the layers of symbolism intertwined with the materials and the narrative they evoke.

At the heart of this artwork lies the significance of the rusty nail scene from Kesey's novel, where the protagonist confronts the punishing and relentless climate of the pacific northwest. He opens a fresh box of nails to find they are already rusted. This is his breaking point, and he quietly leaves behind this way of life which has caused him so much misery. The rusty nail, with its weathered surface and enduring presence, becomes a potent symbol of realization—a quiet acknowledgment that some things will never change, no matter how much we may wish otherwise. Embedded within the glass enclosure, the rusty nails become a metaphor for the moments of quiet acceptance that punctuate our journey—a recognition of the futility of resistance and the wisdom found in embracing the inevitability of certain outcomes.

Moreover, the phrase "final nail in the coffin" takes on added resonance within this context, symbolizing not just the end of a chapter, but also the culmination of a journey marked by acceptance and understanding. For me, this work reflects my own “rusty nail moment” when I realized that I was hanging on to a relationship I needed to release. In essence, this piece serves as a testament to the beauty found in embracing those “rusty nail” moments, embracing the inevitability of change, and finding solace in moving on.

I am so grateful to have found glassblowing at this challenging personal time in my life, and I am so excited to continue to explore this new medium and create works that are both healing and honest. Be sure to check back for updates and more pieces as I continue this process.

Sneak Peak: New Body of Work in Progress - Merging Glass Art and Digital Media

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