Colours of Akita Glass Art by Shun Kumagai 30.7 – 15.8.2021

Presented by Contemporary Crafts Centre

Colours of Akita

Glass Art by Shun KUMAGAI

秋田之色

熊谷峻玻璃個展

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Contemporary Crafts Centre

Shop H, Hollywood Building

186 Hollywood Road

Sheung Wan

Hong Kong

30.7 – 15.8.2021

12nn - 6pm, Tue - Sun

Mon by appointment

Read this article: Everything is unpredictable before it breaks

courtesy of Obscura Magazine

View the Catalogue 展品目錄

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Shun KUMAGAI

I make glass art pieces using the casting technique. Glass casting is the technique of forming glass shapes by pouring molten glass into gypsum molds, and allowing it to cool and harden. It can create unique glass surfaces, depending on what kind of mold is used, or what materials are mixed with the glass. I intentionally mix different materials with the glass in my works.

In order to make a gypsum mold, firstly, I create a shape with wax, according to my own formula. The wax can be difficult to work with, given that it is vulnerable to heat and is not easy to keep cool enough in the summer to shape efficiently. After I make a shape with the wax, I put it in a small box and pour liquid plaster around it.

After the plaster hardens, I melt the wax inside and remove it. The gypsum mold is now complete. I then pour molten glass that has been heated to around 1000℃, soil and metal into the gypsum mold and leave it to cool. After a week to 10 days, I remove the mold and clean the solidified glass. The molds can be used many times; however, if the shape is not that straightforward, such as the shape of a jar, the mold has to be broken to take the solidified glass out. This means that I can use the mold only once and have to make a new one every time I make a new piece. In that case, each piece is one-of-a-kind.

The chemical changes of glass, soil, and metal, when affected by heat, sometimes create unexpected looks. In a way, this could be seen to be a problem, since I am unable to control the look of each piece. However I find the effect of the irregular and unexpected chemical changes interesting as they create rich expressions. And the outcome is always better than that of my calculated plan and prediction.

我利用鑄造的方法來製作玻璃作品。玻璃鑄造是把液態玻璃倒往石膏模具，並讓其冷卻和使玻璃硬化從而成型。技術取決於模具的種類，或我會故意在玻璃中混入不同的物料，以造出獨特的玻璃表面。

為製作石膏模具，我以自己的配方用蠟造出形狀。鑑於蠟容易受熱，夏季時未必可以維持足夠的涼爽，讓玻璃成型，所以較難處理的。當蠟成形後，我會把它放進小盒子裡，然後在它的周圍倒上液態石膏。

石膏硬化後，我會把裡面的蠟融化並清除，石膏模具就可完成了。接着，我會把加熱到攝氏一千度左右的液化玻璃、泥土和金屬倒入石膏模具中，待其冷卻。大概一周至十天後，我便可以移除模具，並清潔成已經定型的玻璃。模具一般可多次使用，不過，若形狀較複雜，例如罐子的形狀，則必須打碎模具方可取出玻璃，這意味著，我只能使用模具一次，而每次製作新作品時都必須製作全新的模具，那每件作品都是獨一無二的。

玻璃、泥土和金屬在受熱時會呈現意想不到的效果。這可以是惱人的問題，因為我無法控制每件作品的外觀。不過，我從中發現這異常的化學變化其實也很有趣，那豐富的層次結果往往比我的預期還要好。

Photos courtesy of ©︎ Masashi Kuromoto 照片來源：©︎ Masashi Kuromoto

Born in 1983 in Akita, Japan, Shun KUMAGAI graduated from Akita Municipal Junior College of Arts and Crafts in 2007. He began his journey as an assistant at Akita Municipal Junior College of Arts and Crafts. He started working as a glass artist at Toyama Glass Studio between 2012 and 2015, then moved to Akita Arya Glass Studio in 2017. Since 2020, Kumagai has run a private glass studio in Akita City. Kumagai exhibited in various cities, such as Paris and Kyoto.

Kumagai tries to create textures through applying different materials in his works. After a glass piece is completed, the appearance of the soil and metal is influenced by how light falls on the object. So, changes occur each moment in a day. In a dark room, the character of soil becomes apparent and the object may look like earthenware. In the morning sun or the evening sun, the character of glass appears stronger, as if the object itself cast the light.

熊谷峻於1983年生於日本秋田市，並於2007年畢業於秋田公立美術工藝短期大學。他在秋田公立美術工藝短期大學擔任助手，並展開了他的玻璃之旅。在2012至2015年間，熊谷峻以玻璃藝術家的身份在富山玻璃工房工作。其後在2017年遷至秋田市新屋玻璃工房。自2020年起，熊谷峻在秋田市設立私人玻璃工房。熊谷峻的作品曾在不同的城市展出，例如巴黎和京都。熊谷峻嘗試利用不同物料，為作品營造不同的質感。當作品完成後，玻璃中混有的泥土和金屬受光線照射影響，使作品在每一瞬間都有不同的變化。作品在黑暗的環境中，泥土的特質會較明顯，令作品看來仿如似陶器；但在晨光或日落的餘輝下，玻璃的特質又會強烈一些，作品有如自身發光。

Limited edition artworks available for sale at the exhibition

限量作品可在展覽上選購