Guy Hepner Gallery

Dylan Martinez Blue Water Balloon (large) For Sale

Dylan Martinez
Dylan Martinez - Blue Water Balloon (large), 2024, Glass sculpture - hot sculpted, sandblasted, acid etched

Blue Water Balloon (large), 2024

Glass sculpture - hot sculpted, sandblasted, acid etched

6 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 4 in 16.5 x 11.4 x 10.2 cm unique variations

About this work

Dylan Martinez's sculptures, particularly his renowned water bags, stand as captivating explorations of perception, materiality, and the boundaries of artistic representation. Within this diverse body of work, Martinez's water bags emerge as quintessential examples of his mastery in manipulating glass to convey the illusion of fluidity and weightlessness.In his series of hyper-realistic glass water bags, Martinez showcases his technical prowess by meticulously crafting molten glass into convincing replicas of transparent plastic bags filled with water. Each sculpture captures the delicate contours and shimmering surface of water with astonishing precision, inviting viewers to marvel at the seemingly impossible transformation of solid glass into the appearance of liquid.What distinguishes Martinez's water bags is not only their remarkable realism but also the conceptual depth they evoke. By presenting these mundane objects in an unexpected medium, Martinez prompts viewers to question the nature of reality and the reliability of their own perceptions. The transparent quality of the glass further complicates this inquiry, as viewers are compelled to contemplate the interplay between transparency and opacity, presence and absence.In a playful twist on his water bag theme, Martinez introduces a variation featuring a goldfish cracker suspended within the glass. This unexpected inclusion adds a whimsical and surreal element to the sculpture, imbuing it with a sense of humor and inviting viewers to reconsider the relationship between object and context. The juxtaposition of the delicate, ephemeral quality of the goldfish cracker with the permanence and solidity of the glass creates a striking visual contrast, further enhancing the surreal quality of the artwork.Through his water bag sculptures, including the version with a goldfish cracker inside, Martinez invites viewers to engage with themes of transience, transformation, and the fluidity of perception. These captivating artworks serve as powerful reminders of the artist's ability to push the boundaries of traditional artistic mediums and challenge viewers to see the world in new and unexpected ways.

$2,400

Sell or Consign

Edition & Provenance

Year
2024
Medium
Glass sculpture - hot sculpted, sandblasted, acid etched

More from this series

More series by Dylan Martinez

About the Water Balloons Series

Dylan Martinez makes objects so convincing that people reach out to touch them before realizing what they're looking at. The Water Balloons series operates from the same place, but with color.

Each balloon is hand-sculpted from hot glass then sandblasted and acid etched, a process that takes the surface from raw glass to something that genuinely reads as latex stretched thin over water. The weight looks real. The tied neck looks real. Some have condensation droplets on the outside.

Works are available as individual pieces or in curated trios and groups. The groupings work well together, both in terms of color and scale.

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Blue Water Balloon (large)

About Dylan Martinez

Dylan Martinez is a contemporary glass artist based Washington State, USA. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Glass from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where he studied broad field science with a minor in outdoor education. His path to glass began as a college elective that quickly became a lifelong pursuit.

Martinez works entirely in hot glass, hand-sculpting each piece without molds or casting. His practice centers on perception and illusion, drawing on the technique of Trompe L'oeil to create works that challenge what the eye believes to be true. He is best known for his water bag sculptures, objects that are indistinguishable from plastic bags filled with water, made entirely from molten glass shaped between 650 and 1150 degrees. The work is animated by his own experience of red-green colorblindness, which has given him a lifelong interest in how perception shapes reality.

He has trained with master glassmakers across the United States and completed a residency with Venetian glass masters in Murano, Italy. His most recent series introduces color for the first time in years, with sculptural works referencing water balloons and Pac-Man imagery that signal a move toward pop art territory.

Martinez's work is held in the Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida and the Kelime Müzesi in Ankara, Turkey, among other public and private collections. He has exhibited across the US, Italy, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Taiwan, and has been featured in Interior Design Magazine, American Craft Magazine, Elle Decoration, Aesthetica, and Colossal.

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