I want to make and not knowing how to do it and having to figure out how to do it. It's why my work tends to change year to year. I don't want to just regurgitate and do the same thing that I already know how to do. What excites me is the problem solving.” Being faced with challenges is one reason why Seth also loves creating custom pieces for collectors. It’s often a great prompt for him to test new concepts.
with a potato on a stick causing it to bubble to get an even, homogenous color. Whether shaping, fusing, blowing or casting, Seth is often working in at least 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures. Needless to say, this type of work is not for the faint of heart. But for Seth, the outcome and conveying an idea through the simplicity of these raw materials is deeply fulfilling. “There aren’t many of my pieces that are just, ‘This is a nice piece of glass or metal.’ The story, the concept, is a driving force for me,” he said.
Watch Seth's interview here.
“A collector might want something in a different color or a different size, or they’ll like the style of my work and want me to design something specifically for their space,” he said. “I like those kinds of projects because there’s no right or wrong answer. It’s talking to a client or
hooked on the craft of glassblowing, it took the suggestion of some close friends for Seth to even consider art as a career path. “I was with a couple of friends from school and we were talking about what we were all working on,” he said. “I was feeling a little lost at the time and said all I want to do was arts and crafts all day. And then someone said, ‘Well, then why don't you just do that?’. And it was the first time I really thought about actually just doing that. So that was kind of a turning point.” While Seth’s work ranges significantly in terms of subject matter, much of it, particularly in the early days, has figurative and anatomical influences. In fact, he’d often draw inspiration from things he read in psychology and medical journals. A constant evolution Though much of Seth’s work still portrays the human figure, he’s continually striving to introduce new concepts. “I like problem solving,” he said. “I like being faced with an idea of something I
someone who’s interested in something and coming up with a solution together that they’re excited about and then having to figure out how to do it.” To reach a solution, whether for a commissioned piece or a concept he’s testing, Seth uses a variety of different tools, techniques and approaches–– all of which involve extreme heat. An ever-growing toolset “I get excited about the chemistry, the physics and science behind it all,” he said. “For my sand cast glass, I pour liquid glass into a mold made out of sand at about 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit and let it cool anywhere from two weeks to a month depending on the thickness.” Seth will also often color his own glass using different metal oxides which he puts into a furnace with molten glass. He stirs the combination
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Issue 3 | Winter 2023
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