Art Meets Science

Glass Faculty Justin Ginsberg Recognized for Light Topographies

Justin Ginsberg, associate professor of glass in the Department of Art & Art History, has been named a winner of the international Intersection Award, presented by the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo. The award celebrates innovation at the crossroads of art, design and industry through collaborations hosted at Pilkington Glass North America (Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.) in Toledo, Ohio – the birthplace of the 1962 experimental glass workshops that helped spark the Studio Glass Movement.

Ginsberg's new project, part of his ongoing Light Topographies series, emerged from this collaboration. His research investigates a process known as optical contacting originally developed for deep-space technologies, in which polished flat glass panes fuse without adhesives. Installed within specially designed and illuminated vitrines, these works change the appearance depending on the viewer’s angle of observation:

"Where surfaces meet, they bond into dark, inky islands. Where they don't, air is trapped at the thickness of a single wavelength of light. Under illumination, these micro-pockets reveal themselves as Newton rings — concentric, spectral patterns, like an oil slick shimmering with hidden color..." explains Ginsberg.

He looks at the scientific procedure through the metaphorical lense asking "What does it mean to touch?" probing humanity's enduring desire for connection and presence.

The 2025 Intersection Exhibition in Toledo also features works by Anjali Srinivasan of Bengaluru and Kagen Dunn, a UTA Glass Program alum. Juried by Michelle Fisher (Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Keiko Tsuri (Senior Scientist, Thin Film Technology, NSG - Pilkington North America, Inc.) and artist Therman Statom, the competition recognizes projects that re-contextualize industrial materials through artistic experimentation.

The works are on view at the River House Arts in Toledo, OH, from September 11 – October 23, 2025. Ginsberg's Light Topographies series is also featured in the XX Faculty Biennial at The Gallery at UTA, on view October 20 – November 15, 2025.

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