Edmond Byrne’s mould blown glass aims to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. From his large ethereal stacked vessels to signature sprawling tableaux, Byrne’s vessels use the materiality of glass to examine the science and psychology of colour.
For the metameric series, Byrne examines the metameric phenomenon; when two individual colours appear indistinguishable to the human eye, their difference revealed with a change in ambient light. Glass reflects light but also allows light to pass through and project. The nature of this dynamic and how it affects light of different wavelengths reaching the eye lends itself to this phenomenon.
When researching colour in glass for this body of work he noticed that when combining nuanced hues with tertiary colours, especially greys, and darker colours, they would not be immediately apparent. Only gradually as the eye adjusts and compares, would they be revealed.
“I place selected colours together and stack them to create a crosslink between each nuanced hue, bringing forth a subtle symphony of interactions and realisations to be discovered and contemplated.”