Introducing the amazing work of Ben Edols

Posted on 17th Feb 2012 @ 11:58 AM

Since 1993, Ben Edols is a name that has dominated the world of art glass. His work is synonymous with beautiful cutting edge design, and amazingly skilled workmanship, and is regarded as some of the best in the world.

Most well-known for his collaborative work with partner Kathy Elliott, this series of work has been designed by Ben and hand made by him in their Sydney studio.

Ben has exhibited in Australia, Japan, the United States, Germany, England and Italy. He has work represented in public and private collections around the world. Including works in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Toyama Museum in Japan, the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Art and Design in New York, the Glasmuseum Alter Hof Herding in Germany and many many more. He and Kathy were both invited to be artists in residence at the Bullseye Glass Co in Portland and Illinois State University in the United States.

This series of work revolves around a technique called cane work. Caneworking is an intricate technique using thin rods of coloured glass. Ben groups these rods together and rolls them up on the end of a glass blowing pipe. He then melts them together and manipulates the hot glass to achieve coloured stripes through the vessel. This is a technique used by the original masters of glass, the Venetians. Ben is greatly influenced by these amazingly complex glass blowing techniques. He is considered to have mastered them and is regarded as one of Australia's most skilled glass blowers.

Ben has been invited to teach his specialised hot glass techniques to enthusiastic students around the world. Including Pilchuck Glass School in the United States, the Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass in the United States, the Toyama Institute of Glass Art, Niijima Glass Centre, just to name a few.

In this series of work Ben combines striking colours that compliment each other in works that are both decorative and functional. Ben's attention to detail results in the finest glass pieces

"We work within the traditions of the Decorative Arts, more specifically, the manufacturing of glass vessels. While we make the objects we like to see around us, we are building a body of work that will be coherent as it evolves over time." - Ben Edols and Kathy Elliott.

Click here to view more of Ben's work.