Playing with Fire

Chika and I went on a little field trip to the Bellevue Art Museum to deliver some of our Chikabird goods for the BAM gift shop, so we thought...why not culture ourselves a little while we're at it! And boy, were we in for a treat. One of the most striking exhibit there are these series of glass pyrographs by Etsuko Ichikawa , where she literally paints with hot molten glass on thick paper that stretches 20ft tall. WHA-?! Just watch the video and be prepared to be visually mesmerized by the movement of the fire, the smoke, and the hot glass as it dances and drifts on the paper. Simply enthralling.
If you're a pyromaniac like me..you'll REALLY like watching this. FYI,I don't actually burn things down, I just like watching fire...and can do that for hours.We first saw Etsuko's work and met her at SOIL gallery (an Seattle artist co-op organization) and were totally in awe by her work. Etsuko's process is similar to the swiftness of how Pollock throws his paints down allowing serendipitous results...where the process of creating the work is art in itself. Of course the actual results in comparison are entire different from each other. There's a level of serenity in Etsuko's process and work, and we think she is WAY more badass since she using hot molten glass at the end of a heavy 10ft long metal rod! DAH-NAH-NAH-NAH! (electric guitar sound)
Watch more videos of Etsuko making the prints at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma.