'The character is from the person, from the food you eat, from the environment you grew up in and from the way you are educated. So your life experiences influence your work.'

Wang, Kim and Guan are among seven glass artists featured in 3 Nations: Asian Contemporary Glass Art, a group show that blurs the line between East and West, between collective and individual identities.

The other participating artists are Etsuko Nishi and Kasumi Ikemoto from Japan and South Korea's Kim Jung-suk and Park Sung-won. The exhibition will run at Koru Contemporary Art in Aberdeen until October 16.

Park, curator of the show and a professor at South Korea's National University of Arts, says the exhibition sets out to provide a critical view of current trends in Asian glass art. He says the artists - all trained abroad - are regional leaders in their field.

The exhibition also focuses on how the artists use glass to express their artistic ideas and explores the way their cultural backgrounds and training abroad bears on the creative process.

'There are certain characteristics about glass, in its fragility, so the way we artists use it to express emotions is important,' says Wang.

'For many of us, there is a concept and meaning behind using this material, so the important point is how we use it to express ourselves and realise our ideas.'

Kim Ki-ra's glasshouse series, for instance, is to commemorate the death of both her parents six years ago. She says that in Korea, the house encapsulates the concept of life.

'It represents a human or a character, and I translate this concept into a glasshouse,' she says. 'A glasshouse can be very easily broken, so we have to take care of it carefully so that it can last longer.'

In Pebble House 1, the small stones that Koreans believe purify water, symbolise the purity of her family, and Bamboo House 1 stands for integrity. Pine Tree House represents her wish that her family will remain 'forever green'.

These are very Oriental concepts, says the US-trained Kim, a professor at Seoul's Kookmin University.

Wang's Ru series also has an Oriental slant, based as it is on the Buddhist notion of happiness.

'It is not about being crazy or having a sweet sense in your life, but more how you concentrate in the moment, your being, right here, right now,' she says, adding that ru means 'the real moment'.

The series merges that philosophy with Chinese calligraphy and a Western glass-blowing technique. 'When you are writing calligraphy you are very concentrated,' Wang says. 'In Buddhism, the only reality is this moment. It isn't in the past or in the future. So all the emotions, sadness and love, they come and they go. They are temporary.

'For me, concentrating on life in this moment is the reality and this is well-being and happiness. When you are happy, you're happy but when you are sad, don't feel too sad because it's only a process of life.'

Less culturally specific are works by couple Kasumi Ikemoto and Etsuko Nishi. Ikemoto was trained in Italy and Nishi in the US, Britain and Australia.

'Each place has a different atmosphere and style - the colour of the sky and buildings are so different,' says Nishi, who adds that she's influenced by the colours around her. The glass pieces she made in Australia, for instance, are in bright blue and other vibrant hues - in contrast to the less colourful works she produced when she was studying for her master's degree in London a decade later in 1999.

Ikemoto, on the other hand, finds his artistic inspiration within. In his Scene series, he asks himself the philosophical question of just what he is. Influenced by medieval Italian paintings, he creates scenes on glass vases that symbolise the past, present and future.

Only through understanding his temporal investigations does he find out who he is, the artist says.

Nishi says because of the cultural background and overseas training she and her partner possess, they have become artistic hybrids whose styles are hard to pinpoint.

'The funny thing is that I studied glass art overseas, but when people look at my work abroad, they say it has a Japanese feeling to it. When I exhibit in Japan, people think my work is from the US or Europe and that it's not in a Japanese style. I don't know why,' she says.

Park says the seven artists - all of whom are teaching at university level - belong to the first generation of Asian glass artists, and that it's important they pass on their techniques, as well as their interpretations of the medium, to their students.

'The exhibition also provides a good opportunity to foster exchange between these countries where glass art is now taking off,' says Park.

3 Nations: Asian Contemporary Glass Art, Koru Contemporary Art, Unit 1012, 10/F Hing Wai Centre, 7 Tin Wan Praya Rd, Aberdeen. Ends Oct 16