H20/sio2 Water Bags
4 works
Dylan Martinez Swedish Fish No. 77 For Sale
Dylan Martinez
Swedish Fish No. 77, 2026
Glass Sculptures - Hot Sculpted, Sandblasted, Acid Etched
13.25 x 6.25 x 4.25”
About this work
Dylan Martinez has established himself as one of the most technically accomplished glass artists working today, bringing a conceptual rigor to the medium that elevates his practice beyond traditional craft boundaries. His work sits at the intersection of pop culture commentary and material virtuosity, drawing collectors who appreciate both the demanding physicality of hot glass work and the wry humor embedded in his subject matter. Swedish Fish No. 77 belongs to Martinez's ongoing exploration of American candy iconography, a series that examines mass-produced confections as cultural artifacts worthy of preservation and contemplation. The work transforms a ubiquitous, disposable treat into a substantial sculptural object rendered in glass—a material historically associated with permanence and preciousness. This tension between the throwaway nature of the source material and the labor-intensive process required to realize it in glass forms the conceptual core of the series. The piece demonstrates Martinez's command of multiple glass techniques: the initial form is hot sculpted, then refined through sandblasting to achieve the characteristic matte texture of the original candy, with acid etching providing final surface modulation. At just over thirteen inches in length, the sculpture occupies a scale that feels both intimate and monumental, inviting close examination of the surface qualities that distinguish handmade glass from its industrial counterparts. As the seventy-seventh iteration in this series, the work reflects Martinez's sustained investigation into seriality and variation, with each piece presenting subtle differences in color saturation, form, and finish that reward dedicated collectors of his practice. For acquisition inquiries regarding this work, please contact Guy Hepner.
$5,000
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.