Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Big Bang and Little Bang, 2008

Jack Archibald
(American, born 1950)

Location: Cascade Middle School, Vancouver

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Artist Jack Archibald's Big Bang and Little Bang is a representation in stained glass of both the Big Bang theory and the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption of 1980. The "Big Bang" is the main theory of how our universe was formed by expanding from a very high-density and high-temperature, explosive state over the past 13 billion years. The artwork's largest section spans the main entryway of the school. Three additional glass panels are installed along a hallway with windows.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Evergreen School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Glass artist Jack Archibald uses light to animate the colors and abstract shapes in his stained glass artworks. In his own words, "As a stained glass artist, I work with light. Glass is uniquely interactive with light, its transitions, its intensities, its colors. Throughout the day, a window constantly undergoes transformation. The changing light animates the glass."

Archibald earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (1972) from the University of Wisconsin. In 1981, he established the private studio called "Revisionary Glassworks" on Camano Island, on North Puget Sound, Western Washington.