Think twice before you swat that mosquito. It just might be a delicate glass sculpture, at least if you’re in the presence of Yuki Tsunoda, a young sculptor who shapes glass into insects and plants that are almost exactly to scale.
mosquito
The 26-year old artist first began working with glass in 2012 when she attempted to visualize the disgust and aversion most people have to insects, especially when they swarm together. But as she studied them more and more she began to take note of the beauty of each individual body part. Tsunoda eventually shifted her focus to emphasizing the beauty of insects by recreating them in realistic forms, and to scale, using glass.
dragonfly
Tsunoda at work
Tsunoda works primarily with Italian Moretti glass, which is a medium-soft glass and is known for its malleable and colorful properties. But because she works in such miniature scale she often uses pins, small spatulas, razors and other tools around the house to create her sculptures. She also uses dichroic glass and a form of quartz known as aventurine to obtain the type of metallic luster often found on insects.
bugs
Tsunada exhibits her work around Japan periodically but doesn’t appear to have any upcoming exhibitions. But she does have an online shop where you can purchase her glass insects. She is also on Twitter, where she occasionally shares images of her work.
honey pot ants
honey pot ants
snail and hydrangea
a mantis
leaf cutting ants
February 3, 2017 at 9:56 am
I just love these. When i visited Venice i was delighted they actually had ants made of glass. amazingly intricate.
I am the proud owner of an ant made up from wire which i found in Spain. little things please little minds i guess.