American Master Glass sculptor, Henry Richardson, winner of the 2012 Artist of Year award by the Design Centers of Americas, creates his sculptures made of hand-chiseled plates of glass through a high-intensity light welding process. In spite of the large scale of many of his works, the sculptures feel light, their heaviness reduced by their translucency. Each work has a crystalline or ice-like quality imparting both a timelessness and impermanence which can be interpreted as reflection of our own human condition; the work is ideal for outdoor display.While the sound of breaking glass calls to mind the image of destruction, Richardson uses fractured glass as an element of creation. Wielding traditional tools of sculptors, such as a chisel and hammer, he shapes glass and then bonds it using specially formulated transparent adhesives.
His sculptures are generally recognizable in form but the materials create a visually and metaphorically complex body for the viewer. Thus one can only imagine his sculptures start as cold commercial grade window glass and they are transformed into breathtaking sculptures that transmit light and radiance.
