Initially inspired by the juxtaposition of beautiful beaches in concrete cities, Ben Young's sublime glass-work captures the look of the sea.
Last month Standing Room Only visited the CoLab glass artists conference in Whanganui where the Mt Maunganui-based artist was a guest speaker.
He creates his work by cutting slabs of laminated glass and gluing them together.
Young is a former boat builder and says the skills and problem solving involved in the industry came in handy in his new career.
He says he started off using laminated glass to build 3D shapes until he came across a UV glue which he now uses in his work. The glue has a transparent effect that makes the glass look as though it's become one object, he says.
“It seems as though you’re seeing through the glass and looking inside.”
He also uses things like bronze and concrete in his work.
“I do like playing with different materials, it keeps it interesting. I’m not just a purist when it comes to the glass which some people are."
The colour in his work is a natural outcome of the process, and Young felt no need to alter it.
“It looks so much like water I thought, why go trying to make it something else when you could stick with that sort of theme and that’s been such a big part of my life so that just happened organically."
Young started building things from a young age and says his experience with lego was a foundation of his work.
The themes of his work began when he was living in Sydney. He was inspired by the city's contrast of beautiful beaches and water with concrete.
