New London, CT - Lyman Allyn Art Museum announces a new exhibition, Gas in Glass: The Light Sculptures of Mundy Hepburn, opening on Friday, February 23, 2007 and on view through June 24, 2007.  Gas in Glass: The Light Sculptures of Mundy Hepburn presents large-scale, whimsical blown glass sculptures filled with gas mixtures such as xenon, argon, neon, and krypton, among others.

The resulting light sculptures are a vibrant visual cross between fantasy objects from the artist’s mind and flowers and forms seemingly from another planet.  Hepburn activates the glass with high frequency static electricity causing the light sculptures to come “alive” with a kaleidoscope of changing colors, depending on what gas is in which glass form.

The science behind the art that Mundy Hepburn creates is based on the same principle as a simple florescent light.  Because so little electricity is used to light the works, only about thirty watts of power, the sculptures will operate for a very long time.  Some examples of Hepburn’s work have been running for as long as fifteen years.

Gas in Glass: The Light Sculptures of Mundy Hepburn reveals the fascination of a youngster captivated by science.  Hepburn became interested in glass blowing in 1963 when he was eight years old, after seeing Paul Geyer blow glass animals at the Guildford Fair.  He went home and melted down light bulbs on the kitchen stove after making sure that his parents had gone upstairs.  Years of practice with glass and fire led him to the level of expertise that we see today.  Hepburn has developed his own style of torches and glass compositions and has experimented with various gas mixtures to achieve the dazzling color combinations that manifest when the electricity is turned on.  For the past decade, Mundy Hepburn has worked exclusively with his own furnace design and other homemade equipment to create his unique style of luminous glass sculpture.

Mundy Hepburn lives and works from his glass studio in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States.  His light sculptures are collected by private individuals as well as public institutions.  And for those curious about his name, yes, Mundy is the nephew of the late Katharine Hepburn.

This exhibition has been funded in part by generous grants from the Frank Loomis Palmer Fund, Bank of America, Trustee, and Pfizer, Inc.

Lyman Allyn Art Museum was established in 1926 by Harriet Upson Allyn in memory of her father, Lyman Allyn, as a place for local citizens to learn about art and culture.  Housed in a handsome Neo-Classical building designed by Charles A. Platt, the permanent collection includes over 10,000 paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, furniture and decorative arts, with an emphasis on American art from the 18th through 20th centuries.  The museum is located at 625 Williams Street, New London, Connecticut, 06320.  For more information, please visit us on the web at http://lymanallyn.org.