Renata Jakowleff

Glass is a perplexing material, used for thousands of years for both industrial and artistic purposes. In the hands of expert glassblowers and crafters the amorphous matter can simultaneously seem liquid and solid. It is this plastic transformation of glass that has captured the imagination of glass artist Renata Jakowleff.

For her, the magic is in the moment when glass cools down, the kinetic properties of the liquid phase disappear and the form becomes set. The once lively motion of the newly created object is still somewhere, written in the nature of glass but unbeknownst to those who are not familiar with the glass-making process.

Jakowleff’s approach almost resembles a form of science, as she views her pieces as documents of the behavior of molten glass. The glass she creates contains little or no personal expression per se, rather it tries to communicate the liquidity of the material to the viewer - the experience of working with molten material subjected to certain forces in certain conditions.

The ambition to best represent the movement of the glass has led her to develop a special glassmaking technique she calls profile working. The technique avoids marks left by contact with the mold by moving cast hot glass vertically with metal mold profiles. The flowing wall of glass solidifies from contact with the air, thus making the material thin and clear like blown glass.

In her latest works Jakowleff examines the human body, depicting the sedimentation rate of blood cells, different organs and the anatomy via blown, clear and sandblasted glass.

Jakowleff is FCINY’s artist-in-residence in April and plans to use the time to get acquainted with the local galleries specializing in glass art and to connect with the vast number of resident professionals.

http://www.renatajakowleff.com/