As an artist, Josh is fascinated and inspired by astrophysical concepts such as gravitational waves, dark matter, black holes, and the mysterious physics of light. With Spacetime Stellar Disks he explores ways to interpret and represent these phenomena... in glass.
The photos below show Josh creating the 22" diameter Spacetime Disk, "Window on the Universe," shown in the photos above (yes, they are all the same plate). This dramatic piece was featured in his 2022 solo exhibit, "Dark Matter: The Unseen Work of Josh Simpson."
A heated disk of fused cane is picked up on a gather of clear glass with a bubble inside...
...then heated in the glory hole until it's soft and pliable.
Josh then shapes the glass with a cork or wood paddle...
...and creates an egg shape that will receive another layer of glass, then be blown into a bowl form.
This bowl, with the fused cane inside, is gradually enlarged...
... and made thinner and thinner, until Josh uses centrifugal force to spin the super-heated bowl open into a platter form
Presently, Josh makes five unique series of Spacetime Disks: Singularity, Hyperspace, Gravity Wave, Snakes on a Plane, and Window on the Universe, shown below. Click on the photos to see more.
Singularity Stellar Disk
A "singularity" is the center of black hole where all conceptions of time and space completely break down.
Hyperspace Stellar Disk
"Hyperspace" is an alternate dimension (as yet still fictional) that can only be reached by traveling at or faster than the speed of light.
Gravity Wave Stellar Disk
As predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravitational waves are 'ripples' in spacetime caused by the most violent and energetic event in the universe, the combining of two black holes.
Snakes on a Plane Stellar Disk
Tony Einstein, Albert's nephew from Boston's North End, observed that the energy of the universe looked just like wriggling snakes when viewed at around 2 AM through the wrong end of a telescope. This gave rise to the little known astrophysical (also fictional) concept, "Snakes on a Plane."
Window on the Universe Stellar Disk
In this his "Windows" series, Josh explores the idea of layers and angles of perspective.
We're Sorry!
In January we announced that Josh was going to appear on a PBS program called "Weekends with Yankee," and we promised we'd let you know it was going to air. Well, guess what! That episode aired on April 15 and we missed it. Argh. We apologize!
Josh just spent a week in Venice visiting other artists' glass studios and having a blast zooming around in water taxis. But now that he's home, he's too too busy charging furnaces and chopping cane to share any photos. So... too bad for us!
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Josh Simpson Contemporary Glass
www.joshsimpsonglass.com - 413.625.6145
Salmon Falls Gallery - 413.625.9833
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