Artists of the Conference “Around the Fire” – Agâh Barış Can Aksakal

He was born in Aydın-Turkey, in 1989 and went to Başak Private School for his primary and secondary education. In 2004 he started studying at Yüksel Yalova High School of Fine Arts-Painting Department.

In 2007 he decided to go to Anadolu University Foreign Languages School. In 2009 he started study at the Glass Department at Fine Arts Faculty, same University, and he graduated. He attended many courses in Turkey and in United States. His name nominated for a scholarship from Turkish Cultural Foundation and his international studio glass experience has started at The Glass Furnace-Istanbul. He had scholarship from Corning Museum of Glass-New York. Form, design, modeling and mold blowing are the other areas that he focused on but especially on his Master’s Thesis Project he worked on figurative sculptures and the meanings that they carry. 
website: abcaksakal.weebly.com

During the Conference he presented “Turkish glass stories”
Glass has a great history in Turkey, starting from Ottoman Empire. After glass movement show up in the US, it has effected Turkey also. Encouraged by studio glass movement, private glass studios and departments in the universities were built. As a result of those developments, I graduated from Glass Deparment a year ago. It has been five years since I first started to blow glass and it was an unforgettable moment for me when I did it for the first time. The shape it takes, its heat and the tools we use during the shaping process, impressed me a lot. I think glass is a unique material and it can turn into a successful art piece in talented hands.