Glass Arts Society Demonstration
Piecing Together An Ecosystem
Glass Arts Society Demonstration 2011, Seattle Washington.
My demonstration at the Glass Art Society Conference 2011 was intended not simply as technical exploration of hot glass assembly, but also as expression of who I am, how and why I make my work. Twelve years ago, when I first arrived in Seattle to study, I pursued two passions. The first was glassblowing: I was privileged to both learn many of my skills at world class facilities like Pratt Fine Arts Center (where my demo took place) and to work with many outstanding artists. My second passion was marine biology, as I explored our fragile marine ecosystems and the need to preserve our environment. I now combine the two, depicting our lovely but fragile marine ecosystems in the also-fragile medium of hot glass.
I am as addicted to marine species as I am to glass. For years I have propagated coral; now, in Hawaii, I sculpt the organisms like coral I know best, which I study under the microscope and in the field. My current sculptural work focuses on marine species normally endemic to certain areas. I attempt to educate the public about these ecosystems and their histories, and about the impact of humans on them. All this I do in glass. This demonstration was a great example of how I make site-specific sculptures of varying marine ecosystems. This Journal article will be an overview of the demonstration; a longer and more detailed article appears, along with a video of the demonstrations in the hot and cold studios at the GAS Conference, at my web site, www.taongaglass.com.
My subject matter for the GAS Conference was the Puget Sound Ecosystem, the water body bordering Seattle, the conference site. Years ago, I conducted a long study there on Laminaria saccharina and its associated epiphytes and epifauna; in this demo, I incorporated this species along with others into sculpture. Before arriving in Seattle, I planned my sculpture for the demonstration: I conducted extensive research on Puget Sound. I identified 13 local species to incorporate. I chose algae including Laminaria saccharina, an important local sugar kelp which I had studied in the Puget Sound; Ulva fenestrate, a sea lettuce found in the sound and around the Pacific Ocean, also eaten in Hawaii traditionally; Sargassum; Red Macro algae; Coralline, an important rocky habitat builder (4 color variations); sea staghorn algae Codium fragile that had a red sponge staghorn fringe otherwise Ceramium codicola, that only grows on this algae. Most of these species had more than one specimen assembled on the sculpture. For invertebrates (or corals), my favorite organisms, I chose to sculpt a tunicate Botrylloidessp; a branching soft coral Gersemia rubiformis, more commonly called a sea strawberry; Calcigorgia spiculifera, a gorgonian that had polyps that matched the small octopus; and Leucilla nuttingi, a small white urn sponge commonly found in clusters of 5-7. Finally, for people who always want a fish, I made a rockhead Bothragonus swani.
I think it is important to see the research behind the work; the wonders of the natural world are reflected in glass sculptures to remind people of our riches. I use glass because it’s the strongest sculpture medium, capable of outlasting every other. Yet it is not the finished product that entices me as much as the process of creating, of thinking, and becoming what I am making. At home, I might go snorkeling and catch a specimen, or walk out at low tide in the tide pools with nets, then use the wildlife to get detailed glass sketches of color and form before returning species to their homes. But books, images, and the natural world are all inspirations and necessary tools on the bench during my creation process. The bibliography of species I handed out were images of the books I keep on my bench as I work.
On to the technical part. I took two days making color samples and usable parts for different organisms. I brought about one third of the products to assemble the demo, about 30 pre-made parts spanning 13 species, all made solo in my new studio, without a furnace. These parts were made of base glass of gaffer lead crystal, spectrum 96, and spruce pine. These were color sampled parts, using textbooks for identifications and inspirations, matching the taxonomy of individual species in the Puget Sound. The parts where warmed in the garage for about two hours before my demonstration.
Once my demonstration started, I made two base rocks of solid glass, 4-5 gathers, double stuffed in the optic mold, one with doughnut holes, and then joined together. I then took 4 different color variations of coralline algae in the form of glass color bar and sculpted the shelving forms of the coralline using rose crimps out of hot bits, similar to making classic flower petals. We then heated up some pre made murrine designed to look like a tunicate (or sea squirt). They were made of three overlays, two cane roll ups of about 40 canes each, then another overlay, made solo, then chopped up. I fused two small shapes of encrusting tunicates, mixing 15-30 murrine, fusing them in the glory hole, and assembling them to the rock surface with the rose crimps. From there we assembled 30 parts from the garage. One or two algae broke as we were learning the garage temperature, for it read 75 degrees colder than I would normally work. I talked about the importance of having extra elements/parts in the garage to accommodate design, mistakes, or size adjustments for aesthetics. I also compared the sculpture to a goblet -- many of my parts are more fragile than a goblet stem. When I have cracking issues, or am just too cold, I do short repetitive flashes to my “sculpted goblet” instead of using torches like most American sculptors. Maybe it is because I love making goblets, but all the lessons I need for making large sculpture come into play making stemware, from hot assembly, to straightening and potential teamwork.
I was spoiled in my GAS demo, as I had two assistants. I often make this type of sculpture solo, without a furnace, using a garage, glory hole, and kiln. I discussed some of these methods while assembling. As we assembled all 30 parts onto the two foot sculpture, I talked about my glass history, my working process, and the science behind this piece.
I started with primary succession in ecological terms: I construct the sculpture in the same way nature constructs a coral reef. First come the algae parts that build the reef habitat, or are the first to inhabit destructed areas. I then assembled the more complex things found in secondary old growth succession. I find a higher success rate in my completed sculptures when the glass assembling parallels the ecological timing process; the primary successors create a thermal environment on the glass that make the more complex corals less likely to break during the process. Art follows nature. An example of this is assembling the branching soft coral towards the end. The strawberry soft coral had about 300 small pen-sized complex murrine representing polyps assembled over its branches, the colony made from two small branches. The murrine were constructed of 3 overlays and two cane roll ups of about 40 canes each, made solo, pulled really small, chopped, served on a plate, and each hand pressed into the base stalk of the coral with tweezers to make the proper polyp formations. This soft coral species is found only in rich old growth reefs in the Sound. I assemble it at the end of creating my own reef to avoid losing any of its polyps, since it is protected by the other branching species of algae thermally. The octopus had murrine to match the polyps of the gorgonian, and the fish had fins; all these species require complex old growth environments, and their parts were added on towards the end.
The piece fully assembled, I hot torched the neck line to help cut off the sculpture; I keep my neckline wide to help torque issues as I work at high heat temperatures the entire time – the goblet principle. After 30 hours of annealing, the piece was cold worked by Joe BenVenuto, who decided to use it for part of his GAS demo. At that evening’s auction, the winning bidders were Oregon collectors Glen and Joanne Syrons. The piece looks great in their antique room.
Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast by Eugene N. Kozloff,
University of Washington Press
The Beachcomber’s Guide To Seashore Life in the Pacific Northwest
by J. Duane Sept, Harbour Press, Madeira Park, BC Canada
Guide to Marine Invertebrates by Daniel W. Gotshall
Sea Challengers, Monterey CA 93940
Costal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest by Andy Lamb and Phil Edgell
Harbour Press, Madeira Park, BC Canada
Seashore of the Pacific Northwest by Ian Sheldon
Lone Pine Publishing, Auburn WA 98001
Image Descriptions for the Page
Top Left: Left Side of Garage warming up glass, featuring Murrine Sheets to create Tunicates.
Top Right: Right Side of Garage, showing about 30 parts, featuring 10 local Puget Sound Species.
Middle Left: Clark receiving bits during demonstration.
Middle Right: Finished Piece, Photographed by collectors Glenn and Joanne Syrons from Oregon.
Bottom Left: Cold worked by Joe BenVenuto as part of his Glass Art Society Demo in the cold shop.