A broken glass bottle on the floor of her studio made Polish artist Marta Klonowska realise how her art could stand out from the rest.
The Finnish Museum of Glass in Riihimäki features life-like dogs, fish and demons made from thousands of colourful pieces of glass.
The large spaniel, made of pale glass pieces, is both fascinating and frightening. Its glittering fur is made up of thousands of thin and narrow glass pieces.
It feels as if every hair on the dog’s coat is fluffing and flapping towards the viewer.
At the same time, the brain warns against touching sharp pieces of glass. Feeling a little uncomfortable.
Marta Klonowska says that it is exactly that restlessness that she is aiming for.
His sculptures are on the one hand charming and beautiful, but the sharp-edged pieces of glass also make them cold and lonely.
All in all, the characters created by Klonowska are unique. No one else in the world makes such works with this technique.
The shards on the office floor brought good luck
A total of 15 figurines are on display at the Finnish Museum of Glass for the rest of the year. In addition to the dogs, there are carp, a couple of demons, a goat and a giant snake, as well as some glass shoes.
Marta Klonowska ended up in the glass half by accident.
– There was a broken bottle in my office. I looked at the pieces of glass and thought that this could be interesting, the artist recalls.
The idea was born to assemble something new from the broken pieces. In addition, it seemed that glass did not interest other artists as much as drawing. In this way, a distinctive material was found in glass that suited Klonowska’s art.
Marta Klonowska has studied art first in her native Poland and then in Düsseldorf, Germany.
– I have a very classical education. At the art academy I had to study drawing and painting.
Dogs in portraits tell their own story
The benefit of the studies was that Marta Klonowska also knew the art of painting from the 16th and 18th centuries. Side characters from classic works caught the eye, such as dogs.
In the portraits of those in power, the dogs told about the prestige and status. In women’s portraits, the dog communicates loyalty.
No wonder the artist’s imagination started to gallop.
Klonowska’s first glass dog figures were born in the early 2000s.
The glass dog is made of red glass. In Marta Klonowska’s interpretation, the Duchess is reduced to red glass shoes.
Klonowska has been praised for how she manages to get a sense of movement and expressiveness in her figures, despite the fact that the sculptures are made of thousands of pieces of glass.
They also weigh a lot.
It’s still all about good drawing skills
The Polish artist emphasizes drawing.
– I draw by hand with a pencil. I do small exercises and then larger ones so that I know what shape and size the piece will turn out to be. After that, I mainly do technical drawings.
The fur of the pink goat is like stiffened glass spaghetti. Attention is drawn to the left foot, which has taken a weightless step.
The dark demon taking flight is also a dramatic eye-catcher of the exhibition. Time passes when you investigate in which all directions and shapes the artist has had to cut pieces of glass.
In a couple of decades, Marta Klonowska’s art has gone from the initial glass tiles and pieces to more and more minute details.
The development is clearly visible in Japanese carp. A visit to the land of the rising sun inspired the artist to study woodcuts.
– I like Japanese woodcuts. They are not only my sources of inspiration, but I do my degrees on them. I want to do something different and push it to the limits of good taste.
Three fish glisten in the sunlight of the great hall of the Finnish Glass Museum in all the shades of the rainbow.
The giant snake that was spinning around the spinning wheel was born just moments before the exhibition
From the sketches, you can see how Marta Klonowska has gradually found the right shape and position for her twisted glass snake.
How are these strange, but on the other hand speaking glass sculptures built?
By examining the snake, the viewer notices how the pieces of glass are attached to the thick silicone mass. However, the core of heavy works is a welded steel bar.
– I used to do the welding myself, but nowadays I have an assistant.
Around the frame, the artist adjusts and shapes chicken netting, which is covered with silicone and finally pieces of glass. He has them in his studio in a box store, different thicknesses, different colors and different shapes.