ben young turns the ocean abyss into glass and concrete landscapes

ben young turns the ocean abyss into glass and concrete landscapes
all images courtesy of ben young

influenced by the beauty of his native new zealand’s natural landscapes, artist ben young sculpts evocative and expressive glass forms. as a surfer and a boat builder, young is innately drawn to the ocean, waves and rocky shores, which he brings together for his ongoing collection of sea-themed sculptures.

each of the pieces are hand drawn, hand cut and handcrafted from clear sheet float glass, then laminated layer upon layer. the complexity comes from the planning and development phases, when he constructs models, draws templates, makes custom jigs and cuts the sheets with a glazier’s hand-tool. ‘I work with 2D shapes and have to figure out how to translate that into a 3D finished piece,’ young says. ‘sometimes my starting point changes dramatically as i have to find a way to layer the glass to create certain shapes.’

‘safe keeper’ | laminated clear float glass with cast concrete & silicon bronze | W 400mm x H 240mm x D 190mm

young completements the organic glass shapes with industrial materials. textured concrete forms are interwoven between layers of semi-transparent glass, forming intricate terrain-like landscapes. the physical and visual juxtaposition between the texture and color of both mediums creates a contrast that mimics the smooth waves of ocean water as they meet the rocky shore. small bronze figurative carvings, sculpted initially from wax, portray a narrative suggested in the landscape.

detail of ‘safe keeper’

‘the way I use the glass enables me to portray so many different elements of my conceptual ideas’, he says. ‘lighting plays a large part in the presentation of my pieces. when lit from beneath, the light reflects and gives off the illusion of the piece being brought to life. I hope viewers might imagine the work as something ‘living’ that creates the illusion of space, movement, depth and sense of spatial being. I like to play with the irony between the glass being a solid material and how I can form such natural and organic shapes.’

‘the observer’ | laminated clear float glass with cast concrete & white bronze | w 350mm x h 200mm x d 240mm

detail of ‘the observer’

detail of ‘the observer’

‘escape’ | laminated clear float glass with cast concrete and cast bronze | w 250 x l 500 x d 340mm

detail of ‘escape’

‘detachment’ | laminated clear float glass with cast concrete and cast bronze | w 200 x w 345 x d 250mm

detail of ‘detachment’

‘solitude’ | laminated clear float glass with cast concrete and cast bronze | w 280 x l 350 x d 350mm

detail of ‘solitude’

‘lonesome light’ | laminated clear float glass with cast concrete and cast white bronze | w 450 x w 250 x d 250mm

detail of ‘lonesome light’

‘the entrance’ | laminated clear float glass with cast concrete and cast white bronze | w 215 x w 430 x d 280mm

‘the entrance’