Biography

Elliot is one of a handful of glassblowers in the world who focus solely on figurative sculpture. Sculpting in molten glass is known as the Messello technique, and working this way requires extreme dexterity, speed and precise temperature control. He chooses to sculpt in glass mainly for the material’s immediacy and transparency and for the intensity of the sculpting experience. “The process itself is very physically and mentally challenging. Once you begin a piece you have to see it through to the end in one session. You are exposed to temperatures of over 1000 degrees and the process of coaxing a complex form out of the liquid glass is unlike working with any other material. The pieces are not cast, carved or ground into shape, but modelled from a cooling liquid so that until the very last second the sculpture is a moving living entity, frozen in time as the glass sets.”