This work was an extension of my experiments with crushed glass on painted substrates. I wanted to create a binary pair of sorts to investigate the optical effects of the crushed glass overlaid on the painted backing and to see how the glass, broken down into fine particulate matter, would capture the light of the environment.

This work aims to promote engagement with the viewer and to invite them to look closely at the highly complex, constantly shifting surface, while also appreciating the overall geometric composition as seen from a greater distance. These pieces also present form and line through means of color as well as material contrast, with adjacent layers of crushed glass of different sizes positioned next to one another to create textural and optical shifts only noticeable from particular angles and certain lighting conditions.

The two glass paintings hold their own both as abstract images, but also as reconfigurations of the light in the space that change and sparkle as the viewer moves around each piece. The complementary tonal palette also creates a pushing and pulling effect in which the figure/ground relationship constantly reverses itself.

The glass in this work is intended to have presence both as a formal element, as well as a raw material broken down to a sand-like quality, approaching its elemental form.

Crushed glass on painted foam substrate, silicone

46” x 46” x 2” each

2024