Bee
“Forming a face in glass is a vow against disappearance, once fused, the likeness is held in light and silence, no longer bound to time, but suspended in a state where a fleeting human presence becomes luminous and immortal.”
Bee, January 2017, Glass, 12"x12"
This piece emerged from Hixson’s fascination with the tension between fragility and permanence, a paradox that glass holds so effortlessly. He began by drawing the figure directly onto a sheet of glass using black powdered glass, letting each line trace the contours of a person whose presence feels both delicate and enduring. He then filled certain areas with colored glass sand, building gentle fields of color like pigments suspended in light. Finally, a layer of clear glass sealed the image, preserving the portrait within a luminous, almost timeless space.
The figure is adorned with flowers, a motif that has long held deep personal resonance for Hixson. Flowers embody cycles of beauty, growth, and impermanence, yet when rendered in glass they become eternal, captured at the height of their bloom. Combining the portrait with these floral forms allowed him to honor both the grace of the person portrayed and his enduring love for the organic softness that flowers bring to our lives.
In working with glass, Hixson is drawn to its ability to immortalize the fleeting. Every line, every grain of color is fused into permanence, transforming a moment of artistic gesture into something that endures. This piece becomes not only a portrait, but a quiet act of preservation, an attempt to hold a person’s beauty, spirit, and adornment in a material that will outlast us all, glowing with its own inner light.