Shay Salehi‘s sculpted glass.
Shay Salehi is a glass maker who eschews all the expected properties of her medium. Rather than crafting decorative bowls that are smooth, transparent and reflective, she creates ones that are rough, opaque and matte.
That's because the Guelph, Ont.-based artist doesn't blow her glass. Instead, she prefers to sculpt it, by hand, using a technique called pâte de verre.
Basically, she presses a paste of industrial glass beads – recycled from old windows – into a mould, and then bakes it slowly at an extremely high heat (up to 800 degrees Celsius) for three to five days. Salehi then paints the finished piece in hues that accentuate the earthiness of the look: obrés of sky blue, for example, or burnt umbers and rich reds.
Any divots in the texture – the result of finger presses – enhance the eccentricities of the unconventional technique.
Price upon request; shaysalehi.ca.