Strawberry Garden (2021), medium-cast glass, ceramic, hand-painted details in oil paint, 26 x 27 x 7 inches. All images courtesy of Christina Bothwell, shared with permissionCeramics and Glass Merge in Christina Bothwells Transformative SculpturesJanuary 6, 2025ArtKate MothesWhen Christina Bothwell was younger, her primary focus was making the best work she was capable of. Now, it occurs to me that I am part of a continuum, she says. Its the feeling I have when I am making stuff that is the important thingthe process Thats what we do as artists, right? Lay the groundwork for the next generation.Bothwell often collaborates with her husband, Robert Bender, who adds wood elements to her dreamlike glass and ceramic pieces (previously). She applies botanical details and other small features in oil paint, creating a mixed-media world of ethereal figures and spiritual, interspecies interactions.Journey (2021), cast glass and ceramic, 26 x 17 x 16 inchesRecently, Bothwell experienced a sudden health issue that threw her off her axis and derailed her studio practice. She says, I felt disconnected from my creativity, and it even seemed pointless to make art at all, like, Why bother?' Eventually, though, she realized how much she missed being in the studio and how playing around with materials enlivened her mind and spirit.These days, I feel keenly that it is a privilege just to make art, to see and be moved by beauty, Bothwell says. She began working on a series of seashell sculptures with figures nestled inside them, which were deeply personal, metaphorical visions of emerging from ones own safety zone to experience the unknown of the wider world. She sculpts each shell out of beeswax, eventually casting them in glass. The figures, on the other hand, are made from raku.Bothwell is currently working on sculptures that encourage letting go of the past and making space for new ideas, focusing on themes of ease, change, and courage. Explore more on the artists website.Girl in Pink (2024), cast glass and ceramic, 10 x 5 x 4 inchesCollaboration with Robert Bender, Strange Angel #3, cast glass, ceramic, hand-painted details, wood wings, and antique wood puppet hands, 26 x 15 x 6 inchesSometimes I Dream the Strangest Things (2022), cast glass, ceramic, and hand-painted detailsCollaboration with Robert Bender, Antlers (2023), cast glass, hand-painted detail, and hand carved wood, 40 x 28 x 15 inchesGirl in Conch Shell (2024), cast glass and ceramic, 10 x 4 x 4 inchesCollaboration with Robert Bender, Girl with Pink Bow, (2024), kiln-formed cast glass and ceramic, 18 x 14 x 10 inchesWilderness (2024), cast glass, ceramic, found objects, wood, and hand-painted details, 38 inches tallCollaboration with Robert Bender, Murmuration (2022), cast glass, 46 x 12 x 12 inchesDetail of MurmurationNext article