Allison Sigethy: Since 2006 I have been making glass sculptures out of salvaged building glass. My choice in glass is largely environmental — structural glass, which makes up 90% of all manufactured glass, is not recycled but buried in landfills — so using building glass is part of my mission. But I also enjoy the challenge of taking a cold, hard, sterile material and giving it new life as a beautiful organic form.

By using glass of uncertain origins as my source material, I must get to know the material in order to work with it. This process has often led me down unexpected paths and often forced me to make up new techniques and ways to work with my chosen materials. I extensively cold-work the surface of the glass to change the texture and reflective qualities of the material. I usually sandblast at least one surface of the glass to give the piece the soft, nappy texture of gently worn sea-glass. By varying the grit of the blast, and which surfaces I choose to abrade, I can create very subtle variations in color, opacity, and translucency.

With this current series, I am challenging the material while exploring the boundaries of strength and fragility. By melting very loose arrangements of raw glass I create delicate lacy structures where the fragility of the sculpture serves as a visual element as well as metaphor for the tenuous nature of balance.

Using this technique on a large scale can exceed the structural limits of the material. As a solution to this problem, I have begun adding concrete components to my sculptures. I use a special sandy mix of white concrete, which adds stability to the forms and contributes to the organic feel of sea glass. Click here to visit her website.