In sculpture, my goal is to create something alluring and magnetic, but also challenging. I attempt to challenge the viewer into a relationship with the object in front of them. I use various forms and colours to both enhance and diminish the properties I hope to foster in the finished object.
It is important to me that the objects I make not only have a strong conceptual base but that they also build upon the qualities inherent to the material. Strength, fragility, transparency, opacity, fluidity, and stasis; these are all elements that I attempt to instil or refute in my work.
People often comment on how the pieces seem like sea creatures or sea forms. Having been raised in Saskatchewan, I try to draw on the grand sweeping gestures and vast subtle movement of the prairies more than on the qualities of the sea, with which I am quite unfamiliar.
The most successful pieces are often executed in a kind of fog. The forms are usually simple and unique, and to me, evocative of someone, something, or someplace. The designs are a natural extension of this simplicity and personality. Too much thought inhibits the expression and causes the piece to look forced.
The process for creating my work is split into 3 major stages. The first stage is the blowing process. Once the piece has been blown it will need to anneal for several days due to its size and thickness.
Once cooled down, the second major stage is the process of sketching the pattern on to the glass. This usually takes some time and while I am developing the sketch on the blank glass, I will be coating the interior of the piece with several coats of liquid resist. This coating protects the interior from the abrasive sand-blasting.
The third stage is the long process of carving with the sand-blaster which takes anywhere from 50 to 150 hours depending on the thickness of the piece and the intricacy of the design.
Obviously, as I remove more and more glass, the remaining form becomes increasingly fragile. After the blasting is completed the resist is removed from the interior, I apply a special liquid to the exterior surface in order to give it a softer, warmer sheen.
A long and ardous process but, seeing the result, I wouldnt have it any other way!