Untitled

Joel Philip Myers's early glass artworks are prized for their elegant yet simple designs, bold colors, and surface detail. In this untitled work, Myers first created a simple blown vessel from clear glass. He then layered pieces of hot colored glass onto the surface using a technique called hot working, which enabled him to mix colors and create unexpected designs. Silver Nitrate, a material that according to Myers "is a strong flux and runs quite at will on the surface of the piece," was applied with a paintbrush during the hot-working process. It fused with the glass in surprising ways, heightening the sense of spontaneity in the work. Myers continues to experiment with contrasting surface detail, as seen in his later pieces Baden Forest (1999.57.6) and Red Spiral Fish (2000.23), created, respectively, ten and twenty years after this work.