In 1959, while working in a frame shop, Larry Bell began to employ glass as a medium. He incorporated the material into his paintings starting in 1962. In the mid-1960s Bell encountered a vacuum-coating technique used in aeronautic manufacturing. He adapted this approach and custom-built a machine to create works such as SMBKWDEN #1. In a signature process, Bell deposits thin metal films onto glass surfaces, which he then sandwiches to create subtle gradations of color and texture. The artist’s works veer between small-scale and environmental, a range that takes full advantage of the capacity of glass to at once reflect, absorb, and transmit light.