Tag - neon

JUDE ABU ZAINEH: SHE BENDS

“There's an undeniable attractive quality to the glow of neon that can't be replicated through other mediums,” Jude said. “I love the idea of being able to sculpt with light as an extension of the glass I'm working with—I'm mesmerized by how three-dimensional neon is in all of my encounters. That never gets old for me.” HOW IT STARTED Jude Abu Zaineh is a Palestinian-Canadian artist and brings a unique perspective to her art with her upbringing being in the Middle...

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KATE HUSH: SHE BENDS

Kate Hush’s journey with neon started in 2012 and she hasn’t looked back since. “I can’t imagine doing what I do in any other medium, the color, the light, the interaction with the environment around it,” Kate said. “There’s a big attraction factor to it. Not to knock on other materials, but you put neon next to a photograph, no one’s looking at the photograph.” ABOUT Being a film buff, Kate’s artistic journey has most been influenced by actresses Kathleen Turner and...

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KACIE LEES: SHE BENDS

“When neon is on, we can't help but be pulled into its vortex of excitation. Why is that? What is in there that satiates the eyes?” Since 2008, that’s the question Kacie Lees has been asking herself as she is captivated by the draw of neon’s glow as a neon bender. ABOUT: “My work is non-traditional. I make experimental color sandwiches and multiples in an effort to encapsulate time and record motion,” she said. “I often say that neon is a time...

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ALLESON BUCHANAN: SHE BENDS

“It was neon’s powerful glow that hooked me-but the fire is what sealed my fate,” these are the words that our next She Bends artist highlight, Alleson Buchanan said as she was describing her love for neon. HOW IT STARTED Alleson’s love for neon began when she was an undergrad at Cascade College in Portland. She saw artist Joseph Kosuth's "Five Words in Orange Neon" at the Portland Art Museum. Alleson was immediately “drawn to the glow.” “There was a palpable magnetism...

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BROOKE BARTTELBORT: SHE BENDS

Our next artist highlight is Brooke Barttelbort.  Brooke is a cat-mom to Whisky and plant-mom to her ever-growing collection of plants, she is a lover of museums but also street art, and enjoys a good spooky movie or haunted house (perfect timing for this blog), as she is a Halloween baby. When Brooke isn’t bending glass, she loves to travel and take photographs of her adventures.  You can find her listening to true crime, hanging out in a tiki bar,...

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MERYL PATAKY: SHE BENDS

The next artist that we are highlighting is the one and only, Meryl Pataky.   HOW IT STARTED Young Meryl opted into taking a neon class at The Academy of Art when she was getting her undergrad in Sculpture. Before neon she was used to welding, silversmithing and working with materials that proposed to be a challenge for her. “I have always been drawn to materials that offer me resistance in some way,” Meryl said. “It was a challenge. I was, and...

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JESS KRICHELLE: SHE BENDS

This week we are proud to highlight neon artist Jess Krichelle! Jess has been fabricating neon since 2018 and since then has thrown herself in the fires, literally and figuratively speaking, to learn all that she can about the physics and art form of all things neon. HER WORK/COMMUNITY “I am fascinated by the natural world being destroyed and replaced by humans and technology,” Jess said. “I wanted to create my very own dystopian portrayal of an electrified waterfall surrounded by...

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DANI BONNET: SHE BENDS

This week our She Bends Artist that we are happy to highlight is none other than Dani Bonnet. Dani has been in the neon industry for 5 years now, but her roots go much deeper than that. HOW IT STARTED Dani’s grandparents ran a neon shop in Las Vegas that she grew up around. Her grandparents were a huge influence on her getting into the neon business herself, carrying on the family legacy. She even has some of their old neon...

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LETICIA MALDONADO: SHE BENDS

Abitech is excited to be kicking off a new series, highlighting some amazing, inspiring artists from She Bends. These incredible women are some of the most talented visionaries of neon benders, and we are so honored to be a supplier of neon equipment to many of them. HOW IT STARTED The first artist we want to highlight is Leticia, Tiza for short. Tiza has been neon tubing for 8 years now, off and on. She has had her own studio for four...

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