Artist Eric Franklin constructs stunning (if not slightly disconcerting) anatomical light structures that are fully hollow and filled with ionized krypton, causing them to glow similar to a neon light. Born in 1974 in Dallas, Texas, Eric Franklin was first introduced to working with glass and neon while studying sculpture at Arizona State University. This immediately led him to seek out more in depth instruction in glass through the Chemistry department’s scientific glassblowing facility. After graduating from ASU in 2000 and moving to Portland, Oregon in 2001, Franklin attended the Pilchuck Glass School as a student in 2002 and as a teaching assistant in 2004 to further enhance his glassblowing skills.
Franklin’s work is included in numerous collections including the Renwick Collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, Washington, where he had a solo exhibition in 2006. In 2008 he won first prize in COCA's Annual in Seattle, Washington. His work has been featured in a wide range of media from Huffington Post to New Glass Review. Franklin was also a presenter at the 2008 Glass Art Society Conference in Portland, Oregon, demonstrating his refined flameworking techniques.
http://www.ericfranklin.com/
"Embodiment", Franklin’s first life sized flameworked luminous glass human skeleton was completed in 2008 for a private collection after nearly two years of work. He is currently working on his second full-scale human skeleton for another private collection. In addition to the skeletons Franklin is also engaged in an ongoing series of individual human skulls.
He has said the following of his work: “Every glass seal has to be perfect, and this piece contains hundreds. Everywhere one tube joins another, or a tube terminates, glass tubes were sealed together. They have to be perfect in order to preserve the luminosity of the krypton. If one rogue molecule gets inside the void of the glass tubing it can eventually contaminate the gas and it will no longer glow. There are times when the holes in the seals are so small that you cannot actually see them with your eyes without the help of a leak detector. Once the glass pieces are ready to get filled with gas, I pull a high vacuum while the glass is hot in order to evacuate any dust or water vapor from the interior surface until there are literally no molecules inside the void of the glass. Then the krypton can be introduced and the glass sealed off. It’s an extremely tedious process, one I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with.”