Niijima Floats: Mottled Blue Black Float with Silver Leaf

Dale Chihuly is an incandescent figure in the American studio glass movement. He began to work with glass in the 1960s, fascinated by its potential to shape light and space. In the 1990s, he began a series of Niijima Floats inspired by glass orbs used by Japanese fishermen to hold their nets in place. The Floats were among the largest glass orbs ever made by inflating molten glass with an artist’s breath. The spellbinding surfaces recall swirling currents of water and gas—wonders of earth and beyond.

This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022