Scott Benefield

My work draws upon glass working traditions of 16th century Venetian glassblowing. In this tradition, the ability of glass to change its state from a solid to a liquid is pushed to its limit - everything that gives the final object its form or decoration happens at elevated temperatures, emphasising the fluid nature of glass and the glassblower’s dexterity. There is no engraving or painting or reshaping afterwards. The entire object is created in real, continuous time and as such is a record of the reactions and decision-making that occur in a split second as the material is moving in your hands.

I try to build on the long history of glass by inventing new patterns, exploring permutations, and increasing my understanding of the material by going back to the original conditions of fire and gravity, using the same tools that have shaped glass for two millennia.