V&A - How Was It Made? with Colin Reid

Colin Reid features in the V&A's How Was It Made? video series

Watch the full video here

Video by the Victoria & Albert Museum

How was it made? Kiln-casting a glass sculpture

Colin Reid makes dramatic kiln-cast glass sculptures, incorporating impressions of found objects and forms from nature. Follow Colin as he sails to remote shorelines in the Scottish Highlands, where he uses silicone putty to take a moulded impression of the rocky landscape, capturing the natural fissures and textures of volcanic rock, without leaving a trace.

Back in his studio, Colin transforms the impression, building it up and sculpting a model in wax and polystyrene, from which he takes a negative mould made of plaster and silica. In the kiln, the glass is cast into this mould – a process of mould melting which goes back 4000 years.

Colin finishes the sculpture using hand-held cutting and carving tools, as well as machinery for milling, grinding and polishing, creating a mirror-like finish which reflects the moulded surfaces. 

 R2099 Caleta by Colin Reid

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