Peter Bremers - DESTIG Interview

PETER BREMERS - DESTIG MAGAZINE INTERVIEW Extracted from DESTIG Spring Issue - March 2019 Pictured: DANZA `19, Art Series , dim. 89.5x26.6x7.8 inch 225x67x19 cm.

PETER

BREMERS

CREATIVE BODY `17, dim.39.3x16.5x8 inch 99x41x20 cm.

POLAR LANDSCAPE `13,dim.7x48x7inch 18x120x 18cm.

Add a little bit of body text into a glassblowing workshop

background.

with Andries Copier and

I was born in 1957 in the old

Willem and Bernard Heesen

town of Maastricht, in the

at the Jan van Eyck Academy

Netherlands, I developed an

in 1986. Mesmerized by the

interest in fashion, interior

glowing light of hot glass at

decoration, architecture and

the end of a blowpipe, I did

design at an early age.

not only decide to start

It was not until going to the

investigating the possibilities

Art Academy in my home-

of blown glass for my objects

town that I developed a

but also did a post-graduate

profound interest in three-

at the Jan van Eyck Academy.

7 BODIES `18, Installation Fort Wayne Museum of Art.

Tell us about yourself and

dimensional art.

Tell us about your work.

found a love for light and its

The following year I started

influence on form resulting in

working in blown glass.

creating light-sculptures. In

Instead of trying to become a

1980 after four years of study

master glassblower myself I

- I kept making light

tried to learn as much as

sculptures and started

possible about the material

exhibiting all over Europe.

by assisting and working with

My work got published in

masters like Lino Tagliapietra

several design books and I

from Murano and Neil Wilkin

would probably still make

in England. Neil and I worked

these light objects and

together

installations if I didn’t walk

PASSION `18, dim.36.6x27.6x6 inch 92x69x15 cm.

While studying sculpture, I

LOVE FOR NATURE `17, dim.74.2x35x7.8 inch 187x86x20 cm.

ILLUSION `15, dim.33x37x7.6 inch. 83x93x19 cm.

with a highly skilled team for many years, producing many blown THE VERY LAST ICEBERG `18, dim.39.8x31.6x7.8 inch 100x80x19 cm.

objects. The use of graal technique (glass made with a colour overlay that is cooled, engraved, reheated, and encased in a layer of clear glass and blown again to expand the decorative engravings) and later the development of double graal, resulted in many successful exhibits and my first book Metamorphosis.

Although never being trained beyond an assistant, I love blown glass and learned a great deal about it over the years, studying the way the material behaves, how it flows, what it means to go with the material or against it. In my opinion I am still working with light, colour and form.

Another significant change in my work and my approach to glass as a medium came after a very influential and inspiring voyage to the Antarctic in 2001. Translating my impressions of the land-scapes, the glaciers and the square rigged three-master I travelled on into

GRAND STAIRCASE ESCALANTE `15, dim.48.6x12x8 inch 122x31x20 cm.

vessels, I found we could not blow an iceberg! It frustrated me as I was so enthralled with the many icebergs I saw as “nature`s floating sculpture garden”. Being trained as a sculptor, I quite easily changed over to kiln-casting, a technique used specifically successful by Czech artists and makers like Zdenek Lhotsky. In short this compels of making a full-size model in wax, clay or in my case an industrial hard foam. I create my model by chipping away from a block, no different to working in wood or stone. From this model a plaster mould will be formed. Once the mould is dry, it will be filled with glass or crystal parts. It is then placed inside a kiln and fired till the glass melts and takes over the form of the model. After extensive cooling, weeks and sometimes even months, the mould is taken out of the kiln and through carefully removing the plaster, the glass shape will be revealed. Grinding away the ‘skin’ that results from the

casting process, the final sculpture will then be ground and polished to equal my model. The series of Paraphernalia became an international success, documented by a book by the same name.

My fascination with ice and the way it is transferring light made me undertake more travels to the Polar Regions, resulting in a vast body of ever-expanding work showing

WAVES `15 dim. 27.5x43.5x4 inch 79x109x10 cm.

sculptures known as Icebergs and

nature`s endless source of inspiration. A visit to Arizona and the canyons and deserts of The Four Corners inspired a new body of work by the same title.

To me it was a logical step to go from the cold transparent ice to the hot density of the desert`s rocks and mountains. Once again, this earth and it's awesome beauty intrigued, leading to a collection of glass sculptures. The town of Sedona became a refuge. A perfect place for long hikes through nature the development of new ideas that are then executed in my studio in the Netherlands.

Traveling has always been a necessary part of feeling alive for me. My curiosity as a human being and an artist for our planet`s cultural and natural diversity took me to all the continents. When we travel to other countries and cultures, not only does our outer world change but so also does our inner world and the way we perceive our planet and fellow beings. The sculptures of a new series called Inward Journey are often quiet and introspective.

PERCEPTION XIV `18, dim.25x18x7.8inch 63x45x20 cm.

and quiet time for reflection and

LYRICAL `17, dim.137x42x28 inch, 348x107x72 cm.

"When we travel to other countries and cultures, not only does our outer world change but so also does our inner world and the way we perceive our planet and fellow beings."

ELEVATED SPACE `17, dim. 101x36x16 inch 255x90x40 cm.

see the front and the back of a sculpture at the same time, as well as the matter and space in between. Glass with its transparency and translucency, transforms and shifts light and has an influence on the intensity of color.

It can therefore mold emotion and spirituality, the profane and the celestial. This is always

With titles like Perception, Imprint or

embedded in my work and makes it therefore

Transformation, I share my inner process and life

very personal.

philosophy, meanwhile presenting a mirror, sometimes thought provoking or meditative but

Why is your work a good investment?

always reflecting a need for understanding and

Buying art is an investment in wellbeing.

appreciating the individual as well as the universal.

All the arts, music, literature, dance or film for example can inspire, uplift, challenge or

What makes your work and approach unique?

provoke.

As I was not trained as a glassblower, I approach

Art is a direct form of communication, whether

material as a sculptor. The idea dictates the

emotional, mental, spiritual or even physical.

technique and the material to use. Even though I

The level of art in a society defines the height of

occasionally work with other materials, I have a

civilisation. Investing in art is also investing in

deep love for glass as it is the only material that

the development of your cultural footprint and

allows you to experience 4 dimensions as you can

legacy.

Tell us about some of your achievements.

A particularly interesting development is the use of glass outdoors.

With the Czech glass alchemist Ruda Banas and Zdenek Lhotsky and his team of kiln cast experts, we have found a very fruitful collaboration that enabled me to create large glass sculptures that can withstand the changes in temperature in different climates.

We have placed these sculptures in gardens, ponds and architectural sites. Influenced by the change in light, whether sun, moon, clouds or artificial, the sculpture seems to change in translucency, colour and expression.

To have objects outside like this, opened a whole new range of possibilities of using glass interacting with the surroundings.

SHELTER `17, dim.34x40.6x11 inch 86x102x28 cm.

PERCEPTION XII dim.25x18x7.8 inch. 63x45x20 cm.

"I have a deep love for glass as it is the only material that allows you to experience 4 dimensions as you can see the front and the back of a sculpture at the same time, as well as the matter and space in between."

"In a world with so much manmade ugliness I strive to create things of beauty that touch people`s hearts and give them pleasure as well as food for thought."

GOLDEN VORTEX I `15, dim. 36x18x4 inch 91x45x10 cm.

What are your sources of inspiration?

The actual creative process can be the result of observation, contemplation and concept. Much of that is intuitively translated into form, though sometimes that process can take years.

I find making art a spiritual journey, a search for what really moves me deeply and helps me understand who I am and what I need to express. The interaction with the public is part of that. That is probably also the reason I love doing commissions, because they challenge me to think out of the box of what I usually want to make. When I get a commission, I look at all aspects, the people, location subject, all the circumstances that help me come up with an idea are completely different from what I normally work with.

I find this different dynamic highly interesting and rewarding.

What are you passionate about?

Traveling! It has always been a big part of my personal growth as a human being and an artist.

My interest in cultures and religions, the differences between cultures and how we express our religious,

KISS 2014, dim.28x15.8x65 inch 71x40x165 cm.

spiritual identity intrigue and inspire me.

Nature became more and more important over time, the natural world in relationship to the man-made and my own understanding of it.

How do you want your art to affect the viewer/ world?

In a world with so much man-made ugliness I strive to create things of beauty that touch people's hearts and give them pleasure as well as food for thought. Art is the quintessential desire to express oneself; it is my joy and passion!

AURA `09, dim. 123x46.5x11.8 inch 309x117x29 cm.

Tell us the back-story of some of your projects.

Ten years ago, I was asked to make a large outdoor sculpture, to be placed in a commune for people that were disabled by respiratory illnesses and often only partial mobile or even paralyzed. I created “AURA”, the outline or energy field of a 6-foot-tall man. The color is blue like the symbol for healing, oxygen and water.

What I wanted to express is that the people living there may be disabled physically, but they still have the capacity to think, fantasize, dream, travel in their mind, create and communicate as complete as any ‘healthy’ fellow human being.

Over time I have made sculptures for institutes, homes, ships and offices. Every commission is uniquely created to interact with the people present and its surroundings, it is some of my most precious work.

I recently did two installations for an exhibition at the Fort Wayne museum of Art. The first: “7 BODIES”, represents the human existence as seven individual elements, each containing specific potential: physical, mental, emotional, vibrational, spiritual, creative and ethereal. The outer shape of these seven sculptures is an identical abstracted form. By deliberately denying gender, race or physical appearance, the viewer is

"I find a lot of contemporary art to lean more on concept than visual experience. The mental aspect often diminishes the emotional experience."

POLAR LANDSCAPE I `13, dim.6x27x20 inch 15x68x50 cm.

TRAVELING XI `14, dim.27x32x4 inch 68x80x10 cm.

invited to look beyond the political, fashionable,

Share with us your upcoming projects.

aesthetic or social connotations that so much

Now I am working on six larger sculptures

influence our perception of our fellow beings and

representing the original art forms: music,

ourselves. Separating the elements that define our

literature, drama, dance, architecture and

human existence and visualizing them as individual

combined the 2 and 3-dimensional fine arts.

entities, the observer is challenged to reconsider

I got the idea for doing this installation when I

each element, its valuation and importance as part

realized that there are many exciting things

of the whole.

happening in cross-over disciplines and art-forms.

This is not new and has been going on for many

The second installation is called “Perception�.

centuries, foremost in opera and any similar

This installation consists of 13 sculptures that are

performance prior; opera involves stage design,

identical in form but made from different materials

which would include painting and sculpture,

and/or in different colours. Materials and colours

existing and/or created architectural elements,

represent and associate with different emotions.

dance, drama and of course text (libretto) and

They can be cold or warm, gentle our harsh,

music. I love opera! Even though the Greeks

revealing or obscuring. The intricate shape of each

already developed combinations of the arts, the

sculpture has an opening that allows us to see what

Italians lifted it to great heights, therefore all titles

is behind the sculpture. The way the form tilts

are in Italian.

reminds the viewer of the different angles of perception. The lines lead the eye in and out but

How do you feel about art and its role today?

always back to the hole, while the levels of

Art is more politicized than ever, relating to the

reflectiveness of the surfaces, from transparent to

hear-and-now. It expresses issues that are no

mirroring, change the periphery of our vision.

different than what gets broadcasted on CNN.

Looking through the hole in any object, we can

I find a lot of contemporary art to lean more on

never see the whole installation. We all look

concept than visual experience. The mental aspect

through a peeping hole; we only see a part of the

often diminishes the emotional experience.

whole. It`s our human condition.

As a contrast, much art seems cartoonesque and

PIETA `15, dim.51.6x89x8 inch 130x36x21 cm.

REVERSE CONNECTION `15, dim.53x27.5x8 inch 132x68x20 cm.

EMOTIONAL BODY `17, dim.39.3x16.5x8 inch 99x41x20 cm.

decorative. Damien Hirst`s Venice show “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable� was the perfect commentary on this phenomenon and maybe therefore not approved of by the fine art world and its critics but well appreciated by the many visitors, myself included!

Tell us about where you are based.

Living between my studio in the Netherlands and my refuge in Sedona, Arizona, I travel as much as my work requires and my heart desires.

The world is my oyster!

www.bremers.com

Born in the old town of Maastricht in 1957, Peter

blowpipe, he did not only decide to start

developed an interest in fashion, interior

investigating the possibilities of blown glass for

decoration, architecture and design at an early

his objects but also did a post-graduate at the Jan

age. It was not until his years at the Art Academy

van Eyck Institute. From 1987 on he tried to learn

in his hometown that he developed a profound

as much about glass blowing as he could,

interest in three-dimensional art. While studying,

following workshops at The Oude Horn in

he found a love for light and form resulting in

Leerdam, Willem Heesen`s studio and being an

creating light-sculptures. Although he never

assistant to Bernard Heesen.

finished the Academy - he was actually expelled in 1980 after four years of study - he kept making

In 1989 Lino Tagliapietra gave a workshop at the

his unique light sculptures and started exhibiting

Gerrit Rietveld Academy. Peter participated and

all over Europe.

two of Peter`s designs that Lino executed, were purchased by the Municipal Museum of The City

His work got published in several design books

of the Hague. In the same year he went to work

and he would probably still make these light

with Neil Wilkin in England. They became great

objects and installations if he didn’t happen to

friends and worked together with a highly skilled

walk in to a glassblowing workshop with Andries

team for many years, producing a large number

Copier and Willem and Bernard Heesen at the Jan

of blown objects. The use of graal technique

van Eyck Academy in his hometown. Mesmerized

(glass made with one or more color overlays that

by the glowing light of hot glass at the end of a

are cooled, engraved, reheated, and encased in a

layer of clear glass and blown again to expand the

combined with other treatments of the glass or

decorative engravings) and later the development

crystal. Doing so, he found that even though the

of double graal, resulted in many successful

results were remarkable, he could not blow an

exhibits and his first book Metamorphosis. In

iceberg. It frustrated him as he was so enthralled

Peter’s opinion he was still working with light,

with the many icebergs he saw and he refers to as

color and form. Although never being trained

“nature`s floating sculpture garden”.

beyond an assistant, he loves blown glass and has learned a great deal about it over the years,

Being trained as a sculptor, he quite easily

studying the way the material behaves, how it

changed over to kiln-casting, a technique used

flows and what it means to “go with the material

specifically successful by Czech artists like

or against it”.

Lybenský/ Brýchtova. In short this compels of making a full size model in wax, clay or in Peter`s

Another significant change in his work and his

case a hard industrial high-tech foam. From this

approach to glass as a medium came after a very

model a plaster mold will be formed. Once the

influential and inspiring voyage to the Antarctic in

mold is dry, it will be filled with glass or crystal

2001. After returning to his studio, being full of

parts. It is then placed inside a kiln and fired till

ideas, he translated his impressions of the

the glass melts and takes over the form of the

landscapes, the glaciers and the square rigged

model. After extensive cooling, weeks and

three-master he traveled on, into vessels using

sometimes even months, the mold is taken out of

graal and double graal techniques often

the kiln and through carefully removing the

Pictured: TIP OF THE ICEBERG `12, dim.7x22x15 inch 17x54x38 cm.

plaster, the glass shape will be revealed.

sculptor Peter Bremers, somewhat to his surprise

Grinding away the ‘skin’ that results from the

a landscape artist. His fascination with ice and the

casting process, the final sculpture will then be

way it is transferring light made him undertake

ground and polished to the artist`s vision.

more travels to the Polar Regions, resulting in a vast body of ever-expanding work showing

The series of sculptures known as Icebergs and

nature`s endless source of inspiration for the

Paraphernalia became an internationally

artist.

acclaimed success. In the book by the same name,

A visit to Arizona in 2008 changed not only his

British art glass expert Dan Klein called the

personal life, as the canyons and deserts of The

PERCEPTION INSTALLATION `17, Fort Wayne Museum, photo Jason Swisher

Four Corners also inspired him to a new body of

through nature and quiet time for reflection as

work by the same title. To him it was a logical step

well as gathering new inspiration and ideas while

to go from the cold transparent ice to the hot

far away from his studio in the Netherlands.

density of the desert`s rocks and mountains.

That must have been of great influence on his Once again this earth and it`s awesome beauty

more recent body of work called The Inward

intrigued the artist, leading to a collection of

Journey. Traveling has always been a necessary

unique glass sculptures. The area of Sedona

part of being alive for Peter Bremers. His curiosity

became a refuge. A perfect place for long hikesÂ

as a human being and an artist for our planet`s

cultural and natural diversity took him to all the continents. As he puts it, ‘when we travel to other countries and cultures, not only our outer world changes but so does our inner world and the way we perceive our planet and fellow beings, as well as ourselves.’  The artist carries this concept of bringing together the profane and the celestial into all his creations.

The sculptures are often quiet and introspective.

With titles like Perception, Transformation or Initiation, the artist shares a glance on his inner process, his spiritual awareness and life philosophy, meanwhile presenting us a mirror, sometimes thought provoking or meditative but always reflecting a need for understanding and appreciating the individual as well as the universal. www.peterbremers.com Pictured: TIP OF THE ICEBERG `12, dim.7x22x15 inch 17x54x38 cm.