Portfolio, 2017
Artist statement In today's world the most luxurious thing is time to ourselves. My aim is to create things that will be a part of these precious moments, things that appeal to and inspire people so they spontaneously return to them, things that have a special place in our lives. I am deeply inspired by the Japanese aesthetic and the arts thereof: the purity of shapes, the delicate sense of perception, and the use of specific materials. Apart from that, I am also interested in studying natural structures. I work with the transparency of glass and the ability to see through the material to observe its structure. Through my pieces, which are often on the line between fine and applied art, I want to make people look at things they are familiar with in a new way so they stop for a moment and think about what it is they really see.
Lampion glass, brass, wood, paper • 2017
Opal Bowls opal and crystal glass • 2017
Together But Apart glass • 2016
Carafe & cups crystal glass • 2016
Šupinka glass • 2016
Carmine White opal and garnet glass • 2015
Praline glass, poplar and mahogany wood • 2015
Heritage opaline glass, iroco and poplar wood • 2015
Sushi tray urushi, wood • 2014
Beer Glass 300 ml, 500 ml crystal glass • 2014, 2015
Lampion
I was inspired by chōchin – a Japanese lampion that has been used as a traditional lighting in Japan for many centuries. I saw chōchin for the first time when I was studying as an exchange student in Toyama last spring. I liked the lampion from the very first moment. Maybe it was because the light wasn’t blinding – it was warm and nice. Originally, I wanted to take an inspiration only from the atmosphere that surrounded the lampion and create lighting which would have the same feeling – but in the end I decided to freely reinterpret its shape as well. In traditionnal chōchin – the bamboo cane frame is a part of its outmost coat. I reversed this principle and used paper as the lampion's core coated in thin glass. So when you take out the wooden stick from the bottom of the lampion you can easily change the paper scroll for a different one according to your wish...
Opal Bowls
The set of opal bowls creates a new product line for the Astera Glass company. It was designed especially for the upcoming exhibiton of Decorex on September 2017. I wanted to link the set to my older pieces – Carmine White and Beer Glsses – and work with techniques I learned before.
Together But Apart
In my project “Together But Apart” I want to transfer the glass sculpture that is inspired by classical pieces and Japan itself to the present time by changing its environment. Installation on a water level (a table covered with a puddle of water…) in a non-museum-looking space is a symbol of dissolution of its untouchability and opens ones mind to number of new associations. The piece is presented in a new context and its feeling is different. My aim is to break down an invisible wall between viewers and the piece. You now have an open choice - you can either come closer and touch it or remain still and just play with the idea that there is such a possibility.
Carafe & cups
A set created during the spring semester inspired by pieces of Czech glass artist Frantisek Vizner.
Šupinka
The Šupinka tray is based on my analysis of Frantisek Vizner´s work. I was inspired by simple things and used shapes of basic geometrical objects. When Frantisek Vizner was working with glass, he always used the potential of material and technology to the fullest. He did not try to make pressed glass look like blown glass. On the contrary, he fully used the possibilities it offered. That is why I decided to create an object from melted glass and turn all its imperfections into its advantages. I was also interested in his work with structures during his early years when he worked as a designer in UNION glass factory in Dubí, near Teplice. So I made a model of my own structure which I used as a bottom part of the tray. The remaining surface is cut and polished. The contrast which emerged afterwards sets off the bottom rough structure even more. The tray should be used for serving maki sushi. The cut lens is for side vegetable – avocado, cucumber with caviar and daikon radish.
Carmine White
The vase for flowers was designed in cooperation with Astera glass company for London Design Festival. I took inspiration from japanese art ikebana. It can be used for flowers or separated blossoms but also as an interior solitaire.
Praline
The tray with glass set is inspired by opened bonbonniere where some of chocolates are already missing. So one can move with remaining chocolates as he wishes. The same idea is attached to the tray. There are two glass cups and three spots on wich you can place them. So you can move glass cups and mahogany pralines to achieve your own combination. The caligraphy brush, which is placed in a rabbet on the tray, has no particular meaning. Its purpose is just to capture viewers attention and to start a dialogue between viewer and the piece. It could be easily replaced by a completely different thing – a pearl for instance – or it could remain empty.
Heritage
The concept for this project is attached to my family and to family gatherings. In the middle of the wooden tray there is a simple family tree which depicts three generations in my family - my grandparents, parents and their children. The distance between branches is not random or symmetrical. Everything is precisely calculated. Each branch symbolizes one family member and his year of birth. So each gap between branches matches with a real difference between ages of people in my family. In the end of each branch there is placed one glass bowl. The tray with bowls should be used during family gatherings for serving desserts or fruit.
Sushi tray
The tray was created in the urushi workshop of Anna Cumlivska in AAAD. Its pure and simple shapes underline the highly polished surface covered with urushi lacquer that reminds black glass.
Beer Glass
Beer Glasses, originally designed for the small Czech brewery Two Tales, are inspired by pints of Jiri Brabec from 1972. A traditional decor of lenses or facets is applied on a modern shape and transfered into the present. Manufacturing of glass in Bohemia has a great tradition as well as the production of beer – these both traditions are connected in each glass.