Molten Experiments

Although I took a break from my practice after graduating, I continued exploring materials that had always interested me. One of my earlier projects – a ceramic cast of my face, had been an important exploration of fragility and materiality. I was interested in evolving this idea through a different medium. Glass is a material that I have been long drawn to, and I found myself curious towards its translucency and how it responds to light. I wanted to experience its properties firsthand.

I visited a studio just outside of London, where I learned the process of sand casting and produced a triptych of glass portraits titled ‘Progression: Detachment’. Working with the sand casting process required trial and error. The complexity of the plaster positives made creating the negative moulds challenging. The moulds were redone several times, and the sand sculpted by hand to achieve an effective shape. In another experiment, the plaster cast was pressed into the sand at different angles and copper carbonate was added to the molten glass, which created a delicate bubbly texture as the glass was poured.

Observing molten glass in motion was hypnotic; I was standing over the mouth of hell contained within a small iron box. The fiery red hues made the viscous fluid seem alive like a living creature with its own pulse. Trapped air from the copper carbonate danced inside the liquid, screaming to escape, and sparks cracked through the air. The breath of the furnace stung my skin, and sweat gathered on my forehead.

The experience was an intensely raw, and overwhelming sensory experience. The process of shaping the material was like a confrontation with the elements. The sand casting left a rough textured surface that added a new unexpected dimension to the work, but still allowed light through. This experiment strengthened my interest in glass as a material and inspires me to continue exploring it in future projects in the context of fragility and materiality.