GLASS ART HALF EMPTY OR HALF- FULL?

GLASS as a medium of art has roots in early Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations.

- SRESTHA SARKAR

Though an irreplaceable structural element in ancient Indian architecture and design and in contemporary household accessories as well, glass artists say the pursuit of their art comes with many challenges.

‘The Alchemy of Glass’, an India Art Fair Parallel exhibition at The Kunj, was a showcase of the work of celebrated glass artists Anuj Poddar, Asad Hajeebhoy, Hemi Bawa, Saira Zoya, Mubin Khan, Narinder Singh Bais, Rajesh Sharma, Reshmi Dey, Revati Jayakrishna, and Vishnu Kushwa.

Alchemy is the process of turning base matter into something precious through knowledge, patience, and imagination. It is both a material practice and a poetic idea, where science meets intuition and effort yields meaning. Revati Jayakrishna, who practises glass fusing using the Moti Bharat craft, said while speaking to TMS: “Working with glass is physics, chemistry, and maths tucked in art. The knowledge of the right temperature, material, and heat component is a must.”

Know the chemistry