Shifting States
Glass sculptures derived from marine structures, shaped through transformation, heat, and time.
Shifting States begins with a found fragment from the sea - a serpulid worm shell, formed through the slow accumulation of calcium carbonate in response to ocean conditions. Scanned and translated through a digital crafting process, its structure becomes the basis for a series of cast glass forms.
The work traces a material continuity between marine life and glass. Both emerge from mineral systems shaped by pressure, temperature, and chemical change. Sand, calcium carbonate, and heat form a shared foundation - linking biological growth with geological and industrial processes.
Through scanning, mould-making, and casting, the organic form is reconfigured into layered, angular structures. The resulting sculptures hold traces of the original shell, while shifting into new states, where precision, distortion, and transformation coexist.
Glass behaves as both record and process. In its molten state, it flows; as it cools, it stabilises; under stress, it fractures. These transitions echo the shifting chemistry of ocean environments, where balance is constantly negotiated.
Rather than representing marine systems, the work operates through their material logic, where form emerges through transformation.
Process & Material
The work combines laser scanning, digital modelling, and traditional glass casting techniques. A found marine fragment is captured and translated into a series of moulds, allowing the form to be reinterpreted through different stages of making.
Glass, derived from silica and processed through heat, shares elemental connections with calcium carbonate structures found in marine organisms. This relationship underpins the work - linking biological formation with material fabrication.
As the glass moves through heating and cooling phases, it shifts between states - liquid, viscous, solid - each leaving visible traces in the final form. These transitions are not controlled entirely, but emerge through interaction between material, temperature, and time.
Artist Note
This work began with a fragment from the sea: a worm shell, intricate and patterned. I was drawn to its beauty and resilience, and curious about how glass - formed from the same elemental materials - could carry something of its structure and history.
Using a combination of digital scanning and traditional casting, I explored how a natural form could move through different states - translated, reshaped, and re-formed through process.
Growing up in Thurso, on Scotland’s northerly edge, I’ve always felt a strong pull to the ocean. That connection runs through my practice, from diving and ecological fieldwork to drawing, immersive 360 film, and glass. With Shifting States, I wanted to hold onto that relationship while reflecting on the changing conditions of marine environments.
With thanks to Artist Geoffrey Mann and team at Edinburgh College of Art for their support and teaching during the development of this work.