Looking at these knitted pieces by artist Carol Milne, you'll immediately notice that they weren't fashioned with yarn. In fact, they're crafted using something that's much less malleable – glass! It's almost unbelievable how neatly each fragile row is made and has the look and feel of fiber; this is especially astonishing since the melting point of glass is somewhere between 1,400 and 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit; it gets too hot for Milne to traditionally manipulate it with such impeccable craftsmanship.
To produce these incredible works, the artist uses a technique she invented in 2006 that involves knitting, lost-wax casting, mold-making, and kiln casting. Milne first makes a model of the sculpture out of wax, and then she encases it with a refractory mold material that's made to withstand extremely hot temperatures. Afterwards, hot steam melts the wax and leaves behind an empty shell in the shape of her work. Pieces of glass are then placed in the mold, heated to the proper temperature and melted. Finally, the piece is slowly cooled over several weeks, and Milne carefully unearths her sculpture by chipping away at its shell.
The results of this involved process are the colorful, awe-inspiring “knitted” pieces that you see here.
Carol Milne website and Facebook page
via [Colossal]
