Marc Carmen

In my work, I suspend layers of opaque glass elements in clear glass to form radially symmetric designs with a dramatic sense of depth. The medium of clear glass is not simply transparent neutral space; it bends light, thereby appearing to bend space. By varying the thickness and surface curves of a piece, I enable the glass to change the viewer's perception.The colored glass elements that make up the substance of my work are an exploration of the mandala, one of the most primordial and universal of all human-made imagery. In my attempt to portray the wholeness and balance of the cosmos in my work, I use the millennia-old, glassblowing elements of cane, colored glass rods, and murrini, small glass tiles. Through the manipulation of these basic elements, I aim to create something novel with an ancient medium.


All of my work is created solo, an anomaly in the world of glassblowing. After working as a tradesman for a decade, my engineering experience enabled me to personally design and construct furnaces and studio equipment to suit my unique style of glassmaking. This allows me to carefully control every variable in the laborious process of transforming raw sand into a refined glass object.