Bandhu Scott Dunham
Bandhu Scott Dunham of Prescott came to the world of glass through his interest in chemistry. As a child, he maintained an extensive laboratory in his parents' basement, and became interested in learning how to make his own chemical apparatus. Some library research and much trial and error set him on his journey of learning the "lampwork" technique (so named for the oil lamps used to melt the glass in ages past). Glass rods and tubes are shaped in a gas-oxygen flame and colored with metallic oxides to achieve the desired effect.
"I always wanted to be a mad scientist or an alchemist. By 15, I had an extensive chemistry lab in my parents' basement. I thought the beakers at the hobby store were never cool-looking enough, so I taught myself the basics of lampwork glassblowing. Later, I dropped out of Chemical Engineering at Princeton to become an artist,” Dunham said.
He completed his apprenticeship under American and European masters at UrbanGlass, The Pilchuck Glass School and the Penland School of Crafts.
"I find glass the perfect medium for this kind of work: its fluidity, malleability and paradoxical nature bring out the mysterious parts of myself that I seek to explore and express through art. I enjoy and have pursued lampworking since 1975 because of its immediacy and practicality. The beauty, transparency and fragility of glass are especially well-suited for exploring the themes that interest me," he said.
Dunham is the author of Contemporary Lampworking: A Practical Guide to Shaping Glass in the Flame now in its third edition, as well as Formed of Fire: Selections in Contemporary Lampworked Glass and Creative Life: Spirit, Power, and Relationship in the Practice of Art. He is represented by galleries around the United States and is known for his whimsical goblets, abstract forms and kinetic sculpture. He has taught at studios and glass schools across America and abroad and his work can be seen in the permanent collection of the Corning Museum of Glass and other museums