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Biography My grandfather was a glassblower. My uncles were glassblowers. As far back as I can remember I have lived surrounded by people working with glass, amidst the smoke from the smouldering moulds and the heat of the kilns in Rogaska Slatina, where the two glassworks are the major employers in the area. My father was a designer of glassware. Is it therefore surprising that I decided never to work with just glass alone, but dedicate myself instead to design in more general terms? When I enrolled in the secondary school of design, it was on a scholarship granted by the smaller of the two glassworks, but when I attended the obligatory work-practice there during my summer vacation it only strenghtened my resolve to become an all-round designer in terms of material. I next went to study design at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts; gradually people stopped asking me whether I would follow in my father's footsteps... while my school projects increasingly focused on glass. When I graduated, no doubt remained in my mind that I too was committed to the material which had made its mark on my family for generations. The London Royal College of Art opened up new worlds for me. The experimentation, the novel techniques, the numerous opportunities in an ecouraging environment, the inspiring mentors Diane Hobson, Peter Aldrige and other professors - they all altered my way of working and thinking. Upon my return from London, I was determined to pursue my creative career in both fields - art and design. In a small rented workshop I furnished a studi and in co-operation with both glassworks from Rogaska Slatina, began to produce glass items for various clients. I also made a number of installations and incessantly sought an opportunity for a real artistic event. I saw this happen in 1998: an extensive exhibition at the Ljubljana castle. There, behind the mediaeval walls, the exhibition was staged on a grand scale - the Journey installation was 30 meters long, Always 1,8 metre tall, and Fluid spilled over 40 square metres. This was my first experience of working together with sound and lighting engeneers, graphic artists, construction workers... and also the first time glass was presented in such a way in Slovenia. When I returned in the autumn of 1999 with a smaller exhibition in the castle's vault exhibition space, it almost felt like a holiday, like a haiku in exhibition terms. Before that, however, there had been the GAS EXPO exhibition in Florida, and the Pilchuck grant for attending the selected class of Tina Aufiero and Maria Porges. Just how important that was for my work became apparent at the exhibition I staged in Ribnica two months after my return to Slovenia. Here I again worked in dialogue with architecture, incorporating the river which flows past the gallery, the cellar, the 200 square metres of beautiful premises, the courtyard - all this thanks to the co-operation of wonderful people. During this time I never put design on the back burner; I made work for eminent clients and unfailingly stuck to the principle of personally attending the development of every new product, by being there, at the glassworks, among the glassblowers, until the item produced matched precisely my idea of it. In January 2000 I lectured on the history and design of glass at the Art School in Nanjing, and five months later participated in the international exhibition at their gallery. That summer I gave birth to my georgeus son Luka. I mention him because he is simply the most significant and incomparable thing in my life. I have also been awarded a scholarship that has allowed me to spend October and November 2001 at the Creative Glass Center of America; in the six weeks of work at this institute I have prepared part of the next exhibits. The Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts has invited me to lecture on glass at the Department of Design, starting in the fall of 2002, and to lead the new Department of Applied Art (Glass and Ceramics) when it opens in 2003/2004. In the moment of submitting this text, I am working on the open-air installation, which is going to be part of Lux Europae international exhibition in Copenhagen in Denmark from October 2002 to January 2003. |
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