What’s common between Bill Clinton, Sir Elton John, Melanie Griffith and Mohammed Ali? They are all art glass patrons. Award-winning handblown crystal art glass, designed and handcrafted by New Zealand based artist-couple Ola Hoglund and Marie Simber-Hoglund, is their common passion. Bangaloreans too joined this top-end list by indulging in these exotic colourful art. Mumbai-based Puja Mehta has got the exclusive franchise of the label Hoglund Art Glass and was in Bangalore to exhibit some of the most exquisite pieces.
Vases and jars featuring complex styles, intricate graals, tall perfume bottles, figurines like penguins and birds, colourful platters and a unique jewellery line - the handblown glass technique has given some strikingly beautiful results here. A vase inside a vase, streams of colours intermingling to form a painting of sorts, floral patterns embossed between two layers of glass - molten glass seems to be the canvas for these artists, sculpting from inside out.
Puja informs that art glass is not your simple handblown glass that nests in the heart of Italy. So what is art glass? “Art glass as a concept started way back in 1962 in the USA, where molten glass was used to create art. Ola, a Swedish, started working on this technique right from the age of 16. Ola and his wife Marie attended the Glassblowing School in Sweden and it’s been 35 years since they have been into this business. Handblown glass is not new to India. But the process is carried out for commercial purposes and it’s glass. ``This is a technique that involves crystal and is very complex, making it art glass. We are selling art and not a product,” narrates Puja, who is actually a graphic designer by profession. Ola and Marie have dominated the Australasian art glass scene for three decades now and have won several awards. They have exhibited in more than 40 international exhibitions including New York Art Expo and The SOFA exhibition in Chicago.
Each piece is like a sculpture. And the process is quite tedious. A complex piece can take about 40 days! Talking about the visually exciting yet cumbersome process, Puja informs, “Ola says that creating art glass is like a ‘riyaaz’ for a musician. He has to practice every day to become a master craftsman. It takes at least 15 years to become a master. The molten glass is made out of silica and sand mixture and is lead free, making it eco-friendly crystal.”
Festival vases, eclipse vases, lunar vases to voiles - choices for vases was aplenty. If not, pick from the jewellery line, designed by Marie. Comprising pebble pendants and cufflinks, the jewellery has been made using fused glass. No two pieces are identical. Simply because it’s handmade.
“The range starts at Rs 4,300 and goes upto lakhs of rupees. We are now coaxing Ola to make Lord Ganpati idols using the handblowing glass technique. That would be apt for India,” says Puja, who has the flagship store of Hoglund at Andheri in Mumbai at present.
