Glass artist Matthew Szösz is challenging the way art glass is made. When I first saw his work, I assumed it was just inflatable plastic, but after watching a time-laps video of the creation of one of his pieces, I realized I was looking at something very, very different. Not only are they not made of plastic, they’re not even blown glass! His process involves cutting out pieces of flat glass, then assembling them with something called ceramic paper between the layers, overlapping only the edges of the glass pieces which fuse together. The paper is used commercially as an insulator in things like car mufflers and can withstand high temperatures, protecting the things underneath. It really is a stroke of genius to use the material in this way to make art.
Once his pieces are fired in the kiln, they are removed and quickly inflated using compressed air. It takes many tries to get just one non-broken piece, but the resulting objects are really interesting.
“There is very little shaping that can be done during the inflation, so the process relies entirely on the preparation of the material. Once you pull it out to inflate it, what you get is what you get.”
– Matthew Szösz
I don’t think I need one of these in my house, but I’m really enjoying looking at them!
You can learn more about the innovative Matthew Szösz on his website and on Instagram.
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My OBT 
November 28, 2022 at 8:34 am
Wow. They sure do put a new light on glass objects. The last picture also gives a good idea of their size. Enjoyed looking at all of them – Hal
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November 30, 2022 at 11:45 am
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Such a cool idea.
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November 28, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Way behind here so I’ll come back to check this out. I must be missing something .
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November 30, 2022 at 11:47 am
I recommend you watch the video. It’s amazing!
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November 29, 2022 at 2:14 pm
Wowzer! I really would have assumed these were plastic inflated in some way. The fact they are made of glass is just incredible to me. Thank you for including the production video so that I could better comprehend the process.
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December 1, 2022 at 9:42 am
Until I saw the video, I wasn’t too excited about them, but now I can’t stop thinking about them!
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