Glass and Gas Plasma Sculpture | Intermediate to Advanced

Ed Kirshner

Go beyond Neon.
Learn the magic of sculpting with light in glass forms using gas plasma. Capture the Aurora Borealis in a bottle. This class is for Intermediate to Advanced students who would like to create glass sculptures with dynamic light. Experience with Neon, Plasma or Glass is required, even though some of the techniques covered are intended to be used by non-advanced students. Scientists or engineers in related fields with little or no glass experience will be considered with the consent of the instructor. The course will serve to help enhance the experience of students serious about the use of light and gas plasma in there glass art. Students will learn to refine their use of glass containers for gas plasma, how to better create dynamic plasma effects using a modified Neon manifold, and the special electronics involved in plasma sculpture. While many kinds of studio blown, cast and flameworked glass vessels will be used, a central focus of the class will be the creation of suitable containers from manufactured glass objects. A uniquely developed glass solder will be demonstrated that enables even a beginner to create mesmerizing glass with plasma light sculptures. Students will be expected to complete at least two sculptures incorporating plasma.

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Ed Kirshner

Ed Kirshner of Oakland, California was born in New York City in 1940. He studied architecture and sculpture at Cornell University, the University of California at Berkeley and the Oskar Kokoschka School of Vision in Austria. After thirty years of developing and financing affordable housing, he returned to study art at the California College of the Arts in Oakland as well as at Pilchuck and Corning glass schools and Northlands Creative Glass in Scotland. His glass and gas plasma sculptures have been exhibited throughout the U.S. as well as in Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Austria, France and Turkey. His work, “Cone of Chaos”, was a Corning Glass selection in 2000 and is included in Corning's recent book "25 Years of New Glass Review." His piece, "Java High" was a recent acquisition of the di Rosa Fine Arts Preserve in Napa, California. Ed has taught glass and gas plasma workshops in the U.S. as well as in Asia and Europe and is on the faculty of The Crucible Fire Arts School in Oakland and the Glass Furnace in Turkey. He is also a Trustee and the Treasurer of the Museum of Neon Art (MONA) in Los Angeles. http://www.aurorasculpture.com/