Vallien 7171031 Kosta Boda Lim Ed 500. Marque Kosta Boda glassworks and Sweden Artists Cooperative Workshop. Material Sand Casted Crystal Glass with granite plinth/stand.
Displayed condition - no scratches chips or marks at all. Like all Bertil Valliens fascinatingly engaging sculptures of highly reflective crystal glass with internalised heads, figures, objects, shapes, colours, textures, shadows, reflections, configurations and imagery they are almost impossible to photograph to do them justice. As Bertil Vallien put it, Capturing the expression of the light, and coaxing the secrets from the glass at the right moment is a challenge, and thats when you have the real sculpture in from of you! I have done my best and hope I have offered a reasonable idea of how stunning this sculpture is and why I have had it in my collection for so long. The photographs and text are taken and written by him.
Some background to the Artist how the sculpture was crafted and to Bertil Vallien, his work, particularly his world with glass heads and to. The Kosta Boda Swedish Artists Cooperative Workshop. Bertil Vallien born 1938 is one of the world's leading glass sculptors. His art is drawn upon the enormous treasure of myths and legends through the ages. Bertils sand-casted artwork is represented at eminent art museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and Victoria & Albert in London.In 1994, Bertil Vallien started working with sand-casted crystal glass heads. Come the late 1990s Bertil Vallien began to introduce a smaller head inside the casting of a larger glass head. The Two Headed Janus Sculptures had the two faces usually the outer and inner faces turned away from each other suggesting the association with the Roman God Janus. Often the back of the larger outer head was ground in the shape of an axe, as a result these sculptures are sometimes referred to as Axe Head sculptures. The grinding and polishing creates refraction of the light throughout the inner part of the sculpture and multiplies and changes the inner face as it is looked at from different angles or the head is turned on its granite base.
Bertil Vallien said By working with transparent heads, I could not only make the expression on the faces but also add to the story inside. A brilliant work of art by the Swedish glass Nestor! Bertil Vallien gained inspiration for the glass heads from a newspaper article about Karolina Olsson's strange and perhaps tragic fate. According to the newspaper, the 14-year-old Karolina was out on the ice outside Ă–land in 1876. She slipped and hit her head so hard that she lost consciousness.
Karolina is said to have remained unconscious for 32 years. When she finally woke up in 1908, she told tales about great long-lasting darkness and the presence of blue men. More about the Artist, how the sculpture was crafted the origin of the Head Theme, Janus and The Kosta Boda Glassworks. Bertil Vallien developed the technique of glass casting in sand moulds during the 1970s.The method has since become a well known signature of his own. Bertil plans the shape, size, colour scheme, story and content in sketches of the glass sculpture he wishes to create often attaching information about how it will be later manufactured in the glass forge. He says, The sketch is the universal language. Wherever I have been in the world, sketching has been a way of communication when words were not enough. A wooden model of the sculpture is then made by hand.
Following this red moulding sand of suitable humidity is placed in a metal box. The wooden model is then pressed down in the sand and creates an impression. The casting sand is then pressed and packed in hard so it is able to withstand the blisteringly hot glass mass.
Bertil then continues to create the unique imprint in the sand moulds surface with stamps, pens and other tools to cause irregularities of the exterior of the sculpture. Melted scoops are filled with the melted full crystal glass of a temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius and poured into the glass mould. For some glass sculptures objects are put into the glowing mass of glass at this point. A glass burner is finally used to smooth the surface.
The hot mould is then fed into a cooling oven to cool very slowly for several days. When the glass sculpture finally leaves the mould, the casting sand is brushed off. The head is then sanded and a glass burner is finally used to smooth the surface and it is decorated by hand. Karolina Olson and Bertil Valliens Blue Heads. Bertil Vallien gained inspiration for the glass heads from a newspaper article about Karolina Olsons strange and tragic fate.
According to the newspaper, the fourteen year old Karolina was out on the ice outside Osland in 1976. She slipped and hit her head so hard that she lost consciousness for 32 years. When she finally woke up in 1908, she told tales about long lasting darkness and the presence of blue men. The story must have many depths that are not known. The story of Katolina and his contemplation of it inspired Bertil to create an exhibition of Blue Heads in the ruins of Borgholms Castle near the place where the girl had fallen on the ice.
The weathering ruin contrasted with the spiritual expression of the heads inspired by Katolinas experience. The exhibition in Borgholm was followed with many successful exhibitions internationally. The glass is an invisible material that eats the light and forwards it, No other work material is so volatile and wayward. Thats why Im so fascinated.
Janus was the god of beginnings and transitions in Roman mythology, and presided over passages, doors, gates and endings, as well as in transitional periods such as from war to peace. He was usually depicted as having two faces looking at opposite ways, one towards the past and the other towards the future. Kosta Boda is synonymous with innovative design that has a lot of personality. Founded in 1742, Kosta Boda is the oldest Swedish glassworks, and still produces high quality glass that stands the test of time.It has kept all of its historical charm and traditional manufacturing, and has also developed cutting edge modern techniques that broaden the expressive range of the designers at Kosta Boda. The item "Bertil Vallien Little Janus Pink Kosta Boda Signed Limited Edition" is in sale since Sunday, December 15, 2019. This item is in the category "Pottery, Porcelain & Glass\Glass\Art Glass\Scandinavian\Kosta Boda".
The seller is "revdks" and is located in Worthing, West Sussex. This item can be shipped worldwide.