Pyrosutra

This wall hanging is a continuation of my explorations of the use in copper as a main coloring element in a design. As in many of my experiments with glass I've found that changing just one of the ingredients of the design can have unexpected outcomes both good and bad. Actually, always good since you learn as much from the 'bad' outcomes and you did with a successful one.

In the case of Pyrosutra the side panels are composed of window (float) glass. Float glass reacts totally different with the copper than glass from the Bullseye glass company. Additionally, the side of the float glass exposed to the copper also matters. It is called float glass because during the manufacturing process the glass is actually floated on a bed of molten tin so that it remains perfectly clear and without texture on both sides. This process, I can only assume, leaves behind a very microscopic film of tin on the glass, which again I assume causes it to react differently with the copper than the non-tinned side.

The two central panels of Pyrosutra are highly experimental. Mixing different types of glass is usually not advised. The researchers at Bullseye go to great lengths to insure that all of their fusing glasses are compatible with each other. Mixing float glass with Bullseye glass is basically something you shouldn't do since the resulting glass will be unstable and will crack apart due to internal stress between the two glass types. However, one of the advantages of fusing onto copper is that the copper acts as a bonding agent to the glass even if it is seriously cracked.

I used this fact to push things even further. Not only does Pyrosutra have a mixture of glass it also was crash cooled during the firing process. Once the glass is cooling down from the fusing stage it is very sensitive to temperature fluctuations. The glass must go through extensive annealing and temperature ramp-down periods sometimes lasting hours and even days (depending on the thickness). This process relieves all of the internal stress. Going against convention, I opened the kiln before the annealing period causing the temperature to drop dramatically. The result was that the glass cracked throughout the panel.... marvelously so!

I'm always looking for ways to create natural flowing patterns in glass. The running jagged lines of the cracks add a sense of drama to the work. There is a psychological dissonance in seeing the cracks. Broken glass represents danger and an impulse to remove it, yet this very same element draws you into the work.

The whole work is reinforced by thick panels of glass on the back side which sandwich the copper foil with the vi sable glass in front. The work is 5 foot by 28 inches and weighs well over 50 pounds. The back side reinforcing glass and the structural steel frame which holds the whole piece together contribute a lot to the weight.