This is the story of a glass sculpture. This visual diary takes you through the making process and journey of Transparent Sea. New Zealand born, Perth glass artist Vaughn Bisschops has 20 years of experience working with glass. A small maquette of the whale shark idea hung in Vaughn’s studio for some years. In 2013 the concept was entered and accepted into Sculpture by the Sea. The sculpture was to be 3100mmx 2400mm weighing 680kg and self-supporting. The image was drawn up to scale followed by discussions with the engineer about how it could support itself with elegance and ease.
Specialised blue enamel paint was ordered from a paint maker from France. It was sprayed onto float glass to get an even coat and fired at 720 degrees. Sheets were fired twice to obtain the depth needed. The blue paint was then sandblasted off to reveal the image.
Once Vaughn was happy with the image, the process began of laminating 15mm float glass onto the back side of the blue glass and textured glass to the face side. The next step was to finalise the steel work and plinth.
The steel frames were made by friend Stuart Bryce, and set up on concrete. Next the glass is cemented into stainless steel channels and levelled into the plinth. Finally the sculpture is ready for Sculpture by the Sea where it is exhibition at Cottesloe Beach for three weeks.
In June of the same year the sculpture was taken 1300km north to Exmouth for the annual Whale Shark Festival. It was displayed at the Novotel Ningaloo Resort. It is here that Vaughn and his son Mani get to swim with whale sharks for the first time. Whilst in Exmouth, Vaughn received a call to say Andrew and Nicola Forrest would like to purchase and donate Transparent Sea to the WA Museum. Vaughn was delighted to install the sculpture outdoors at the WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle, in 2014. In 2022, Transparent Sea was remade for display here at the WA Museum Boola Bardip.
