The art of glassblowing is a demanding and unforgiving process, and even with today’s modernized equipment, molding the hot liquid glass can be very dangerous. Indiana based artist Kiva Ford appreciates these qualities of the ancient medium, an art form that he says forces the artist to remain in the present. He sculpts in glass every day, almost obsessively, creating miniatures of things like flowers, animals and geometric forms that he traps in a “ship in the bottle” style bubble or orb. Ford’s artistic work is influenced by his interests in history, mythology, and the natural world, and his affinity for scientific objects led him to pursue a college degree in Scientific Glassblowing. Several of his pieces are treated as if they were natural specimens preserved in jars like a floating, wriggling octopus, colorful glass birds, or delicate glass flowers sealed within glass bell jars. Other works employ the utilitarian design of chemistry glassware, as in one piece featuring connecting orbs and tubes that trap butterflies in their varying stages of growth. Titled “Metamorphosis”, Ford feels like this is a piece that perfectly fuses his artistic and scientific glass aesthetics together more than any other. “To me, nature is just incredibly, effortlessly beautiful and I try to stick to those details and try to challenge myself to be true to the animal or form that I am working on,” he says. “The only thing that limits you with making glass is your imagination.”
Zachary Eastwood-Bloom takes the idea of adding digital-like glitches to traditional sculptures to a visceral level. He created most of these sculptures while he was sculptor-in-residence at Pangolin London. He uses both digital and analogue means to craft the final product, unifying several disciplines for a startling end result.
Inside a Charlotte studio, a hundred faces peer in different directions. These are the unsettling, yet engrossing sculptures of 
In her recent sculptures, Qixuan Lim, also known as QimmyShimmy, continues to meld everyday objects with disconcerting elements. Her recent project, created for an upcoming show at Beinart Gallery next month, inserts one of her realistic organs into dumplings. Or as she says: “For those who wonder why your wontons are so wrinkly.” Her sculptures are crafted in polymer clay.
Maud Vantours explores the infinite possibilities of paper with her elaborate 3D sculptures, which turn a seemingly ordinary material into extraordinary art. Her meticulous process involves carefully hand cutting and superimposing layers of paper onto one another to create multidimensional objects that are rich in texture and volume.