Glass artist, Brent Kee Young, has been recognized by scores of museums, galleries, colleges and universities in the United States and Asia, which have displayed and acquired his work and invited him to speak, demonstrate and teach. In 2006, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery acquired its second piece by Professor Young for its permanent collection. Snake River Shelter is from Professor Young’s Matrix Series, a construction of intricate and technically complex works he created by flame working borosilicate glass rods into layers of glass webs.
Brent Kee Young, Snake River Shelter, 2014.
Flame-worked borosilicate glass. Morris Museum
of Art, Augusta, Georgia. Gift of Eugene Fleischer.
Photo credit, Daniel Fox Lumina Studio.
The idea for this series came from looking at matrices. Looking at the matrix of a root ball from which the dirt has been shaken out; envisioning a rat’s nest of wiggly lines; also, seeing a large pile of entangled re-bar and building next door to Young’s studio. With these images, the idea for making forms from an organic matrix came to be. The concept beckoned for some action so Young devised a way to make sculptures using “Borosilicate” glass. He began by creating a simple element, an organically shaped “T”. By connecting that “T” over and over an idea emerged. One can build almost any form from this inner-connected “T”. The use of clear glass is also an important part of the discussion. With it, he use glimpses of line and light to define form. Young is interested in the ambiguous nature of glass and the sense of space and volume one can create.
Currently retired from teaching, Professor Young continues his inquiries into the mysteries that working with glass has to offer.
Build a Pipe Cleaner House
Supplies:
Pipe Cleaners
Clay
Instructions:
Form clay into balls and use it to connect the pipe cleaners at the corners of the house.
You can cut the pipe cleaners to make the house smaller or connect them to make it bigger.
