Exhibition makes clear potential of glass artwork

Art is created in the medium of glass by blowing, casting, carving and smashing the material, among other methods, to create works of beauty.

Breathing through Transparency — International Contemporary Glass Art Exhibition shows 100 pieces from glass sculptors from home and abroad.

Glass is not just transparent panes here but is revitalized and represents thoughts and aesthetics. There are mostly classical and signature works by about 30 artists from Australia, the United Sates, Germany, France, England and China.

Running to March 5 at the Gallery of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, the exhibition is organized by the China Academy of Arts, and is curated by Xu Jiang, the principal of the academy, and Richard Whitely, head of the Glass Workshop at the School of Art of the Australian National University.

Silicate has been used in glassworks in China for many centuries, but now the variety and panorama are changing and expanding.

"I want to help introduce glass art into China ... glass is viewed as a new idea and possibility," Whitely told Shanghai Daily.

Xu's exhibited work "Sunflower" is a molded glazed glasswork with atmospheric light in shadings of orange and green. It has been exhibited at West Lake in Hangzhou for the past year.

The work accords with the style of the traditional Chinese art liu li, in which silicate is fired for glazed, semi-transparent works, with a history of over 1,000 years in the country. But Xu's work features better transparency.

"Chinese people invented the making of glass a long time ago, but focused more on making ceramics," said Xu. "The two arts are somewhat associated, and that is why glass art needs support in today's China."

Whitely has brought four classical pieces, including "Eclipse Step," a work composed of two colored glass blocks, one transparent brown and one transparent silver, both featuring ridged stripes with an earthy, weathered look on the facade, and a halo in the center.

"Eclipse Step" and his other works are recently made, and one feature is that very few bubbles are seen in the glass despite the fact that they are rather thick.