'Find a Way' Dung Beetle - Elliot Walker -Blown Away

The inspirations of my work are varied and wide-ranging but come primarily from classical sculpture and painting.

I am a dedicated experimenter with my chosen material and constantly try to challenge myself and the audiences of my work to abandon many preconceptions of the material.

My sculptural style would be considered figurative as I attempt to represent my subject of interest accurately. Still, using glass as a material is always at the heart of my conceptual focus, creating ambiguity or surrealism in the works.

Sculpting in molten glass is known as the ‘Massello’ technique, and working in this way requires extreme dexterity, speed and precise temperature control. The process itself is very physically and mentally demanding. Once you begin a piece, you must see it through to the end in one session.

You are exposed to temperatures of over 1000 degrees centigrade, and coaxing a complex form out of the liquid glass is unlike working with any other material. The pieces are not cast, carved or ground into shape, but modelled from a cooling liquid so that, until the very last second, the sculpture is a moving, living entity, frozen in time as the glass cools,” said Walker.