The magic of the sea is brought back to land by self-taught artist Ben Young with his stunning hand-sculpted glass and concrete art. The unique sculptures created by the Sydney-based artists are said to be accomplished by cutting and layering laminated float glasses together. The terrain ranging from a seabed to an island is mimicked as the transparent blue glass is visually contrasted with the light grey cast concrete base.
Young’s background in boatbuilding is fused into his art, starting with the planning phases and sketches in notebooks to the mold making and finishing stages. It is likely that some people would think that the sculptures are made with the aid of a 3D modeling software but they are actually all made by hand, even the intricate parts of each piece.
A 4-millimeter-thick float glass is cut into desired shapes using a glazier’s oil-filled glasscutter. After cutting, the layers are glued together. The process of creating molds for the cast concrete is not any easier as he must carefully account for the stress the concrete may cause to the glass as the material expands and shrinks.
Young also adds small hand carved sculptures cast in bronze for an extra touch of realism. An artwork can take anywhere from a few weeks to a month to complete.
“I love watching the two dimensional shapes evolve into three-dimensional creations and the different way the light plays inside the glass,” Young says on his website. “I love the liquid qualities the glass brings with it. It enables me to play with lighting and watch the glass react.”
Check out more of Young’s glass sculpture works here.
