California-based glass artist Loren Stump specializes in a form of glasswork called murrine, where rods of glass are melted together and then sliced to reveal elaborate patterns and forms. While the murrina process appeared in the Mideast some 4,000 years ago, Stump has perfected his own technique over the past 35 years to the point where he can now layer entire portraits and paintings in glass before slicing them to see the final results. His most complex piece to date is a detailed interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, which involved hundreds of glass components that were melted into a final piece.

Sculptor Ben Young (previously) just unveiled a collection of new glass sculptures prior to the Sculpture Objects Functional Art + Design (SOFA) Fair in Chicago next month. Young works with laminated clear float glass atop cast concrete bases to create cross-section views of ocean waves that look somewhat like patterns in topographical charts. The self-taught artist is currently based in Sydney but was raised in Waihi Beach, New Zealand, where the local landscape and surroundings greatly inspired his art.

Glass artist Kiva Ford draws from his vast experience in scientific glassblowing to create perfect miniatures of wine glasses, beakers, and ribbon-striped vases, some scarcely an inch tall. A member of the American Scientific Glassblowers Society, Kiva creates instruments for scientists who require one-of-a-kind designs for various experiments. The same techniques and tools used for scientific equipment also apply to his artistic practice including the miniature works you see here, as well as larger sculptures, and ornate drinkware.

“Pripyat is a ghost town near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, part of Kiev Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A view of empty houses in the deserted town of Pripyat near the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant Ukraine, November 27, 2012. Pripyat, the city of 47,000 had already been evacuated after the April 26, 1986, explosion of Reactor No. 4 (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

A general view of the ghost town of a former Soviet military radar station near Skrunda, Latvia, April 9, 2016. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

Marani Devi Chaudhary (C), aged 40, performs a ritual in front of shaman Paltan Yadav (unseen) at her home in Rajaur village in Dhanusha district, Nepal, 02 November 2017. The shaman identified Marani Devi to be possessed by their lineage god who was dissatisfied by their worship is thought by the family to have caused them misfortune and is even feared lead to their death. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

An Olympic Airways airplane stands on the premises of the former Athens International airport, Hellenikon June 16, 2014. For about six decades Hellenikon was Athens' only airport but it closed down in 2001 to make way for a newer, more modern airport before the city hosted the 2004 Olympic Games. After languishing for years as a wasteland of crumbling terminals, Hellenikon is set for resurrection as a glitzy coastal resort. Lamda Development, controlled by Greece's powerful Latsis family and leading a consortium of Chinese and Abu-Dhabi based companies, has big dreams for the area since signing a 915 million euro deal for a 99-year lease in March 2014. (Photo by Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters)