symposia

Wearing Glass was conceived in order to present jewellery and body adornment in which glass is the differentiator. Such work is rarely seen and from its inception we wished to ensure the exhibition included an educational aspect.

Two symposiums ran concurrent with the exhibition allowing other artists and those interested in contemporary jewellery to learn from their contemporaries about this unusual and fascinating use of glass. It offered the opportunity to compare skills, methods and approaches that are often influenced and informed by cultural differences and backgrounds. We hoped to encourage artists to see glass in a different light and to experiment and play. Both were well attended and received.

1. Contemporary Glass Society Symposium

‘Glass: Wear it, Flaunt it!’

Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, UK, WC1R 4RL
Saturday 29th October 2005

The Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) presented four international speakers:

Andrew Logan, a flamboyant and remarkable character talked about his “Artistic Adventure” with a slide presentation of his life, showing his huge extravagances and monuments, rings, dog collars and fascinating body sculptures.

A strong contrast to Andrew was Yvonne Coffey, an inspiring artist with thought - provoking work. Coffey uses clean lines and strong imagery to explore issues of gender and stereotype in her stimulating work in this seductive material.

Outstanding Dutch artist Evert Nijland described his work as a search for the meaning of beauty, and as such is using jewellery and glass as a vehicle to bring this into the present time.

To provide an historical context Sigrid Barten ex-curator of Bellerive Museum, Zurich shared her extensive knowledge of the use of glass in jewellery by René Lalique from the art Nouveau to Art Deco periods.

2. WEARING GLASS Symposium

‘Glass in contemporary jewellery and body adornment’

National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, UK, SR6 0GL

Saturday 13th May 2006

27fishes and the Institute for International Research in Glass, University of Sunderland, supported by Northern Cultural Skills Partnership, ran a stimulating symposium at the National Glass Centre, Sunderland.

This was an excellent opportunity to hear three guest artists discussing their working methods, approaches and inspirations. The fourth guest speaker focused on the use of glass and acrylic in jewellery and how these materials are perceived by both artists and the public.

Speakers:

Patricia Niemann started her working life as a goldsmith in Germany before discovering glass. Her focus is glassblowing and her work is based on the human body, exploring ideas of fear, death and nature’s cruelty.
Niemann discussed the influence of nature on her work. Coming from a land locked country (Germany) she is fascinated by the sea and the animals which live in it. Now living in Lybster an extremely raw and exposed part of Scotland, she has concentrated on strong, resilient creatures such as lobsters. She focuses a great deal on death, nature, the relation of man to the body and sex. Her imagery is predominantly strong, both in form and colour.

Diana East specialises in flame-worked glass beadmaking. She has an excellent reputation for both her own glass and as a teacher and lecturer. In her work, ‘Losing my identity’, she explores, with humour and insight, how the brain works, including the concept of consciousness as merely an electro-chemical process.
East gave a very personal talk on the influences surrounding her work which include illness and depression. Her work revolves around the physical workings of the brain: the synapses and function of atoms etc. She is confounded by the reduction of the human body to such physical processes. Where does the soul and spirit come from if we are just a mass of nerves and pathways? She is fascinated by the fact that the brain works on a quantum level (and that quantum theory does not obey accepted laws of physics) and tries to visualize these apparent facts through the glass.

Stanislava Grebeníčková
Stanislava is a glass sculptor from Czech Republic who predominantly works on a large scale. She believes strongly though in the value of glass as an expressive and suitable medium for modern jewellery. With her precise, miniature sculptures for the human body, she plays with geometric shapes to create spatial optical illusions.Grebeníčková discussed her love of glass as a material and how it influences her jewellery. She creates striking and beautiful sculptures which she miniaturises for her jewellery. She combines marble and homemade glass which she anneals in her own studio.

Yvonne Kulagowski
After running her own fashion jewellery business for fifteen years Yvonne now concentrates on writing and lecturing at Central St Martins College of Art and Design and Camberwell College of Arts, London. She raised the question ‘Acrylic or glass - which is best?’ With the help of interviews with contemporary artists and jewellers she debated the merits of these two materials in jewellery, seeking to dispel, or maybe reinforce, their perceived qualities. Kulagowski used her experience as a gallery owner, jeweller and lecturer to discuss the use of acrylic and glass in jewellery. Having specifically conducted interviews with artists for the symposium she discussed her results. She questioned the system by which we judge the value of a work of art - the juxtaposition of a cheap, almost worthless material, against the value of the finished object. Eccentricity, original thinking, the use of unusual materials are now incentives to wear jewellery as opposed to just the suggestion of wealth and value of a precious stone. Yvonne also focussed on the perception of the public to glass; fragile, dangerous, odd. Often only the weight of plastics, relative lightness, differentiates it from glass. Jeweller Adam Paxon chooses plastic as it is almost indestructible - non-biodegradable and cannot be re-cycled. Glass however must be worn with thought and awareness, much as one would a diamond or emerald necklace.

For further information about Yvonne Kulagowski’s talk please see PDF in press section.