Ray Guns

Jeff Burnette

September 28 – November 5, 2000

Growing up in the early 60’s, I was entranced by the science fiction serials and cliff hangers of the 40’s and 50’s. The fantastic weaponry and pseudo-science captured my imagination and I developed a love for the ray guns and comics of that era. In my youth, it was not frowned upon to give toy guns to kids, and I grew up playing out my childhood fantasies of Commando Cody, Buck Rogers, and the arch nemesis, Ming the Merciless, with plastic and metal replicas of our heroes sidearms.

My fanciful ray guns are collectible toys for kids of my age, created out of molten glass and my imagination, using my 20 years of acquired skill as a glass blower. My precise and controlled work enables me to interpret my collection of ray guns and deftly translate them into glass objects that are playful and accomplished sculptures. The innocent time of my youth remains with me and I want to share the whimsical attraction of these futuristic toys. I have a large collection of memorabilia and it has inspired me to create homages to this technology, in blown and sculpted glass.