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2100 Smallman St. Pittsburgh, PA 15222 | 412.261.7003 | www.contemporarycraft.org
As artists we have the ability to change the way that people perceive things in our environment, to make the invisible visible, and to visualize the unknown into reality. My own fascination with natural occurrences that control our environment and the living organisms affect one another in our environment is the source for inspiration. I use glass to communicate the interconnections that we cannot always see. The material speaks as a metaphor for natural occurrences with all of its contradiction and layers of fragility, sharpness, transparency, translucency, opacity and an interior visual surface. It is process based abstraction. Glass flows and moves when it is hot but once it is cooled it is frozen in time. This allows me to use natural forces such as gravity to influence my work. Everything is affected by something else, often leaving the unfortunate images the most visible. These images tell the stories of the natural processes of our environment.
My limited edition works of art come from my background in ceramics and my interest in color theory, I use both of these factors to create patterns in my decorative glass that not only reveal layers within the glass but create a surface texture that is unique to my work. I also make one of a kind sculpture in glass but create a surface texture that is unique to my work. I also make one of a kind sculpture in glass which comes from my own fascinations with natural occurrences that control our environment and the way living organisms affect one another in our environment. These unique works have been shown in a number of juried exhibitions at such places as the Cleveland Museum of Art and The Society for Contemporary Craft.
Ben Johnson
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