Percy Echols II Shares International Plasma Neon Experiences

Last October, Percy Echols II, Pittsburgh Glass Center’s resident plasma and neon expert, traveled to Sweden for two weeks to visit The Glass Factory in Boda, and then to Boston to attend the inaugural conference of the Plasma Art Alliance. Both of these experiences allowed him to meet and share knowledge with other plasma artists from across the globe, some of whom Percy was able to meet in person for the first time.

The Glass Factory is located within a region of southern Sweden known as the “Kingdom of Crystal” due to its history as a hotspot for glass production. Much like PGC, the Glass Factory appreciates this historic regional tradition and supports the continued creation of glass art in the present, functioning as both a museum and an active hot shop. Percy was invited there by Ed Kirshner, a legend in the plasma art world who Percy describes as one of his key mentors. At the Glass Factory, Kirshner led a plasma workshop that was co-taught by Percy and Jaime Guerrero, similar to those held at PGC last summer.

Percy described his time teaching and learning with Kirshner as the most valuable part of his trip to Sweden. The workshop further explored the medium and allowed 10 students to learn about plasma and experiment with integrating it into their art. The students came from a variety of backgrounds–many were glass artists, but not all regularly used plasma, while one student was a plasma specialist but not a glass artist. Percy noted that each person had specific techniques or styles they had refined on their own, and seeing them combine their own styles with plasma inspired him both technically and aesthetically. Back in Pittsburgh, he hopes to incorporate the new forms and approaches he saw in Sweden into future works. 

In Boston, Percy continued to connect with plasma and neon artists like Wayne Strattman, Mundy Hepburn, and Pat Collentine of the Plasma Art Alliance, with other active members such as Harriet Schwarzrock and Aaron Ristau The PAA is a relatively new organization and this was their first “meetup” style conference. There, artists shared ideas and gave updates on their processes. The community atmosphere created at the conference provided Percy with an even greater respect for those involved in plasma art. He is very passionate about engaging with and growing the community and hopes more artists will learn more about plasma and join the PAA.

Back home in Pittsburgh, Percy has a number of projects he is working on, with one of the biggest being his Mobile Plasma Lab. This is a portable station that can bring plasma capabilities into different studios. Percy also hopes to eventually take it into schools as a teaching device that will allow students to realize the wider possibilities of crossovers between art and science. Currently, he is working on making the design of the Mobile Lab less technically intimidating, taking inspiration from setups and designs shared by neon and plasma artist that he follows.

Recently, Percy was also awarded an Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh grant. The award, a joint program of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments, has allowed him to do much of his recent traveling, and work on the Mobile Plasma Lab. It has also allowed him to spend more time further developing his own artistic work.

For more information about Percy’s recent adventures, check out this episode from his podcast, Taming Lightning, where he went into further detail about visiting Sweden and his current projects.