FOCUS ON TRANSLUCENT GLASS
LEENA HYTTINEN AND DAVID VALNER
Based in Tampere, Finland, glass and ceramic artist Leena Hyttinen makes decorative and functional homeware that is inspired by nature.
In her ceramic work, Hyttinen embraces the accidental – allowing the process to shape the piece. However, with her glass work she is more precise and deliberate.
Warm, soft clay allowing for chance and change, while the hot studios required
for glasswork set up a more intense environment. The nature of the two materials dictate the duality of how she works with them, sometimes fluid, sometimes forced.
Amuri | Aurora
“I’ve noticed that I tend to use soft, rounded forms in my works,”
says Hyttinen. “Usually, I like my forms to have some kind of rhythm.
I used to dance contemporary dance in my twenties, and I think
that sense of rhythm and movement is quite innate to me. Aesthetically,
my works are not necessarily very loud but often even a bit understated,
but I hope that they transmit an element of quirkiness.”
Amuri | Peach
Amuri Glassvases
Amuri | Light Green
Included in Cluster Crafts’ online exhibition is Hyttinen’s Amuri Vase collection, which is inspired by the area in Finland with the same name.
The collection is what she describes as a love letter to her home
and pieces were created in collaboration
with artisanal Finnish glassblowers.
“Amuri is my new line of functional and decorative glassware that I’ve designed
and then produced independently in collaboration with Finnish artisan glassblowers,” Hyttinen explains. “There are definitely two sides to my work. With glass I tend to make quite detailed plans, sketches and 3d models in order to communicate my idea
for everyone in the team, whereas with ceramics I work on my own,
usually by hand-forming intuitively.”
Hyttinen has always been attracted to the way glass holds and translates colour.
The material has an alluring way of playing with light and shadow, opaqueness
and transparency. The Amuri collection comprises a translucent, delicate colour scheme and undulating shapes that celebrate the traditional methods of glass blowing,
while also appealing to a contemporary consumer.
Amuri Glassvases
Fungus vase
Based in the Czech Republic, artist David Valner
also uses traditional glassmaking techniques to create artistic vessels and vases.
Valner’s work sits between sculpture and utility,
mostly functional pieces with organic shapes, textures
and patterns. He follows in the footsteps of his father,
who was also a glassmaker and artist. His connection with the material and its particular alchemy spans
back to his youth.
Fungus vase
“Glass is a noble, fragile and ‘wayward’ material with unique optical properties,” Valner explains. “Even if people think that they know
a lot about it, it always surprises them in some way and it is both difficult and great to work with. However, my relationship with it is quite pragmatic. By being in the glassmaking environment since childhood,
I have never perceived it as too noble. Rather,
I had to build a relationship with it.”
Like Hyttinen, his work references the traditions of the area where he lives, and he pays respect to the craftsmanship and knowledge of the region where his studio is based. Valner explains that he is inspired
by nature, history and the craft of making itself.
Recovered
The work included in the Cluster Crafts online exhibition are from
Valner’s collections Recovered and Structured by Nature.
The glass vases in the Structured by Nature collection,
of which the Green vase is available through the Cluster online shop, were inspired by trees in the Czech-Moravian Highlands,
where Valner spent his childhood. The shape of the pieces was inspired by the bark on these trees. The Recovered collection aims to elevate
and celebrate the typically wasted material in the glass making process by reintroducing this ‘waste’ into the work. The glass texture is deliberately destroyed and then integrated into the work.
Works by Leena Hyttinen and David Valner
are available through the Cluster shop.
Fungus
Valner shapes the molten glass by hand, giving the liquid material
a certain freedom to flow and take shape naturally. All Valner’s pieces are handcrafted – the product of a creative wrestle between maker
and material. He integrates bright colours in the glass, and layers interesting textures in different hues.
“Lately, I have enjoyed trying different distinctive colour combinations and mixing them, which is evident mainly in the Fungus collection.
All colours are created directly in the hot production process, not painted with cold techniques,” says Valner. “I choose the colour itself according to the theme of the collection. Colour is an integral part of the object
and must communicate in accordance with the concept.”
Structured by Nature | Green
Thank you for reading,
Katie De Klee & Cluster Team.