Big Bad Bird

Robert Willson retired from the University of Miami in 1977 and moved back to San Antonio. He continued traveling to Venice during the summers to work in the glass factories of Murano, staying for longer periods of time until 1997, when he moved there permanently. Working with a new group of craftsmen who called themselves Ars Murano, he created large, solid glass sculptures requiring teams of up to ten workers. In Big Bad Bird, Willson’s distinctive stripes of pure color fill the creature’s ominous wings, and its staring red eyes and white beak suggest a fantastic mask. The bird’s looming silhouette evokes a sinister guardian, a figure of protection from whom we must ask permission to pass.