Shiva

Shiva is the result of the application of many wood and glass challenges. There were technical hurdles, broken parts, discarded ideas, and aesthetic mis-steps along the way of creating the first in this object.

Shiva is composed of the following elements:

Metal Marble – Metal Marbles are discussed in About Metal Marbles. The Metal Marbles used in Shiva have a black base glass. The same techniques are used in the application of metal washes to the molten glass surface. I reduced the composition of metals in the wash to simple copper and bronze powders, and a very minor use of silver. The heavy reduction flame of the torch-worked glass produced most of the grays. Black glass was used to suit the overall composition, and to also serve as a reflecting body for the metal gilding around the interior rim surrounding the marble. At times, the metal gilding and the metal in the marble visually fuse in a reflective interplay.

Metal Gilding – Gold, copper, bronze, and silver leaf are used on the rim surrounding the Metal Marble. A torch was used to heat-treat the metals, making them change to various hues under the heat of a heavily oxidizing torch atmosphere. After heat treating the leaf was sealed with a gilding lacquer.

 Iridescent Glass – As defined by the Spectrum Glass company: "A surface treatment in which a layer of metallic oxide is bonded to the hot glass surface just after sheet-forming, resulting in a colorful, shimmering effect." Commercially available iridescent glass was used in the Shiva's outer glass ring. This type of glass can be overwhelming and garish. It was toned down by placing it between two layers of fused glass. Again, the integration of metal and glass used to create the iridescent glass was important for the overall theme of this piece and for the Objet d’ art series.

Divitrified Float Glass – Window glass is referred to float glass in the glass industry, because the smoothness and clarity are achieved by ‘floating’ the molten glass on molten metal (tin or tin compounds) when the glass is poured into sheets from the glass furnace. Consequently, window glass has both a clean side and a ‘tin’ side. The non-tin side is susceptible to a process known as divitrification. If float glass is heated to and held at certain temperatures for one or more hours, the surface of float glass reformulates forming a hazy layer similar to sandblasting or etching the surface, but much more translucent and visually delicate.

Here too, metal plays a role this time used in the manufacturing process (molten tin) which makes divitrification easy to achieve, and adds in a technical manner to the overall metallic-aesthetic theme. But this technical nuance does not end there, and will be built on as described in the section on fused glass below.

 

Both divitrification and the gray detailing on the Metal Marble are instances of using known ‘problems’ in glasswork for an aesthetic end. The gray on the marble is often referred to as reduction scum by torchworkers. It is normally avoided, because it will dull colors by making glass hazy. Divitrification does much the same. But because iridescent glass is so intense it must be controlled, and the crystalline divit-haze not only muffles the intensely colored middle layer, but also creates an optical illusion of being out of focus. The eye tends to wander back to the black body of the sculpture where it finds focus, but only in shadowy blacks, until the stark center and true focus of Shiva’s Top is reached.

Fused Glass Lace – Sandwiching the iridescent layer are two layers of float glass (as explained). Divitrification only occurred on the tin side which was fired in the kiln face up. On the bottom of the glass a totally different process took place. Instead of the glass sitting on a kiln self  when creating the divitrification it was placed on top of a layer of glass lace similar to the example at the right. The glass lace was created in a prior firing project by heating a very thinly sifted  layer of cobalt blue glass powder on the kiln shelf. When heated properly the powder coalesces into a very delicate web-like solid which can be picked up and stored for later use. In this case the blue lace was placed on the kiln shelf and the float glass placed on top of it. They were then fired together, creating the divitrification and also to tack fuse the lace onto the bottom of the glass. If the temperature was too cool the lace would not fuse to the glass, and if too hot the delicate lace would fully fuse, melting into the float glass and losing all of its form.

 Lath Turned Wood - The black body of the sculpture is composed of four individually turned pieces of wood which serve to frame and protect the  fused glass. The three glass rings float in the wood frame in a layer of silicone glue. The glue enables the glass to move should the wood expand or contract with humidity changes. Once glued in place, the float glass outer layers were fractured to add visual and to some extent psychological impact. Shiva the Destroyer, as the God is often called.

Sandblasted Textures - Before assembly each wooden piece was sandblasted to revel the random patterned growth rings of the wood as a textural element. The more precisely lined textures were done with a hacksaw blade.