Born
in Dayton, Ohio, in 1959, Bandhu began to teach himself
lampwork technique in 1975, while still in high school.
As an undergraduate at Princeton, he received informal
training from the University’s glassblower before
completing his apprenticeship under American and European
masters at Urban Glass, the Pilchuck Glass School and
the Penland School of Crafts. He regularly teaches workshops
at craft schools and private studios around the United
States and internationally.
ARTIST
STATEMENT:
Innocence,
vulnerability and the luminosity of nature are recurring
themes in my work. By incorporating odd juxtapositions
and bending forms to follow my own quirky sensibility,
I express my experience of the natural world through
my relationship to the material.
Whimsy and elegance are the yin and yang of the functional
work. The goblets display a childlike delight, or playful
combinations of forms. They can be taken as a personal
“toast” to the many variations of Innocence.
Many of the sculptural pieces seem to carry scars, implying
growth over time or an unspoken history. Like “old
souls,” they come into this world already wounded
by exposure and with hidden surprises. The patterns
of Nature and Nature’s effects on manmade structure
fascinate me. I am fond of carnivorous plants, luminous
deep-sea fish and the artifacts of shamanistic cultures.
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.
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