“Biosphere of Glass”, A Nature Lover's Creation

This Tweet, containing photos of a “fish stone”, trended on Japanese Twitter gaining over 15 thousand likes and 1,500 retweets. People commented about how realistic the fishes looked, as if they were really swimming in a tiny pond set in stone. 

• Theme of Life Encased in an Orb
• Closer Look at The Biospheres of Glass
• A Lover of Nature

Theme of Life Encased in an Orb

Source: https://masunagagen.work/

Glass artist Masunaga Gen (@masunaga_gen) is the creator behind “Biosphere of Glass” - a glass orb that contains a scenery of nature. The concept behind it is, 

Biosphere is the region where living things live on Earth.
I create tiny glass works to the theme of such bio (life) - sphere (orb). 

Masunaga-san hopes to record creatures and the natural environment of the current era in glass beads. These glass beads are called “トンボ玉 (tonbodama)” in Japanese, and have existed for over 3,000 years. In the same way they have lasted centuries maintaining their original colour and shape, Masunaga-san hopes that the slice of nature he embeds in the glass beads will last through the ages, preserved for future generations. 

Many of his glassworks are in the form of glass beads, but not one to limit himself, Masunaga-san has expanded to include various shapes and forms. 

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Closer Look at The Biospheres of Glass

Without further ado, here we will introduce Masunaga Gen’s beautiful biospheres of glass. Aside from faithful recreations that act as biological records, he also makes fictitious creatures like fish stone at the start of the article. 

These ones we found particularly fascinating. 

Fish Stone (魚石)

魚石 (Gyoseki) are mysterious stones mentioned in folklore that are said to have fish living in them. Masunaga Gen reproduces these fish stones from a biological point of view as if they really existed. The results are pretty extraordinary. 

Source: https://masunagagen.work/

Skeleton Frog (骨蛙) 

A creature not of this world. Masunaga Gen brings us another fictitious creature that lives in the forest of another world. The title of this artwork is “フィルン (Firun)”. 

Drop-shaped Glass Art

Based on the design for the “Water Spheres series” depicting floating organisms in water, these are made in a drop-shape and made to be worn as a pendant. The title of series this piece belongs to is “At the Mercy of the Tide”. It glimmers beautifully when raised to the light. 

Thinking of the Sea - Beach Glass

Beach glass are shards of glass found on the beach having been washed ashore by the waves. These pieces of glass, having been worn down by the ebb and flow of the tide have an attractive existence, according to Masunaga Gen. 

This collection is themed after the beach glass with a view of the sea and its lifeforms reflected from within the glass shard. 

A Lover of Nature

It can be said that Masunaga Gen’s “Biosphere of Glass” and its beauty is only made possible from the deep love he has towards nature. For over 25 years, Masunaga-san has been enjoying nature photography. Strolling through damp, gloomy forests at day or night, he captures the image of all manner of living things but especially loves mushrooms, frogs, slime mold, and small insects. 

Scrolling through his Twitter and Instagram account feels almost like turning the pages of a photobook. 

Photos provided courtesy of Masunaga Gen 増永元 (Twitter, Instagram, Official Website).