H20/sio2 Water Bags
4 works
Dylan Martinez Swedish Fish No 103 For Sale
Dylan Martinez
Swedish Fish No 103, 2026
Glass Sculptures - Hot Sculpted, Sandblasted, Acid Etched
13.5 x 6.75 x 4.25"
About this work
Dylan Martinez has established himself as a leading figure in contemporary glass art, gaining recognition for his technically demanding hot-sculpted works that blur the boundaries between fine art, craft, and cultural commentary. His practice interrogates the intersection of consumer nostalgia and material transformation, elevating familiar objects into meditative studies of form, color, and light. Swedish Fish No 103 exemplifies Martinez's ongoing exploration of American candy iconography rendered in glass. Measuring 13.5 x 6.75 x 4.25 inches, this sculpture undergoes a rigorous multi-stage process beginning with hot sculpting, followed by sandblasting and acid etching to achieve its distinctive surface quality. The result is a work that possesses both the translucent depth inherent to glass and a softened, almost velvety exterior that invites contemplation. The familiar silhouette of the Swedish Fish is rendered with precision, yet the scale and material transformation remove it from its commercial origins, repositioning it within a dialogue about permanence, memory, and the objects that define collective experience. The interplay of light through the colored glass creates shifting tonal variations depending on viewing angle and ambient conditions, ensuring the work remains visually dynamic within any collection environment. Martinez's sandblasting technique introduces a tactile dimension that contrasts with the smoothness typically associated with glass, while the acid etching process refines surface transitions and enhances the sculpture's atmospheric presence. Works from Martinez's Swedish Fish series have garnered significant collector interest, reflecting broader market enthusiasm for contemporary artists working at the intersection of pop culture and traditional craft disciplines. Guy Hepner invites collectors to inquire about acquiring this exceptional work and to explore additional available pieces from Dylan Martinez's celebrated body of work.
Price on Application
Edition & Provenance
- Year
- 2026
- Medium
- Glass Sculptures - Hot Sculpted, Sandblasted, Acid Etched
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About the Swedish Fish Water Bags Series
The Swedish Fish Water Bags take everything Martinez does with his water bag sculptures and add one more thing to disbelieve. A plastic bag, filled with water, tied at the top and completely convincing in glass. Then, inside it, Swedish Fish. The candy sits at the bottom the way it would if you'd actually dropped a handful in. Red, suspended, completely still.
Each piece is hot sculpted, sandblasted, and acid etched by hand. The process is the same as his water bag work, but the subject does something different. The water bag alone is about illusion and material. The Swedish Fish inside it are about memory. The technique is more demanding than it looks. Getting the candy forms to read correctly inside the illusion of water, inside the illusion of plastic, requires everything he has built over years of practice.
About Dylan Martinez
Dylan Martinez is a contemporary glass artist based Washington State, USA. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Glass from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where he studied broad field science with a minor in outdoor education. His path to glass began as a college elective that quickly became a lifelong pursuit.
Martinez works entirely in hot glass, hand-sculpting each piece without molds or casting. His practice centers on perception and illusion, drawing on the technique of Trompe L'oeil to create works that challenge what the eye believes to be true. He is best known for his water bag sculptures, objects that are indistinguishable from plastic bags filled with water, made entirely from molten glass shaped between 650 and 1150 degrees. The work is animated by his own experience of red-green colorblindness, which has given him a lifelong interest in how perception shapes reality.
He has trained with master glassmakers across the United States and completed a residency with Venetian glass masters in Murano, Italy. His most recent series introduces color for the first time in years, with sculptural works referencing water balloons and Pac-Man imagery that signal a move toward pop art territory.
Martinez's work is held in the Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida and the Kelime Müzesi in Ankara, Turkey, among other public and private collections. He has exhibited across the US, Italy, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Taiwan, and has been featured in Interior Design Magazine, American Craft Magazine, Elle Decoration, Aesthetica, and Colossal.