Inspiration for this series of glass sculptures came from a fascination with and research into tensile, mathematical, architectural, and structural models and objects. My intention was to transpose specific visual signatures found in these objects and theories into the dimensions of transparent and translucent glass. The resulting geometries can be viewed through various perspectives, emphasized by striking colors and clear volumes, the affected gas bubbles underscoring the materials once molten movement.
Treating the surfaces with hand ground precision, I was inspired by the relaxed shapes of water drops and soap films, forms in equilibrium also known as minimal surfaces. I hoped to create a translation of these thin membrane forms into carved sections of glass that would engage feelings of lightness as well as heaviness, imagining an interior whose fluid mass pushes against the elastic membranes of the surface.
MFA Thesis Exhibition
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2012
Cathedral 2012
cast, laminated, cut and polished glass, 37x37x37cm
Parabolic Arch Series - A.1 through A.4 2012
cast, slumped, fused, laminated, cut and polished glass, Lgst. 60x29x70cm
Cove Break 2010
cast, fused, cut and polished glass, 70x29x34cm
Wave Section 2010
cast, cut and polished glass, 26x24x35cm
Orbit 2012
cast, cut and polished glass, glass is 24cmØ x 28cm
Stuttgart on Edge 2012
cast, cut and polished glass, 50cmØx32cm
Built into a wall and viewable from both front and back sides, this sculpture invites interaction. The form is based on Architect Frei Otto's 'Institute for Lightweight Structures' in Stuttgart.