The world is multi-faceted, with its plethora of opinions, viewpoints, cultures, races,
religions, in various stages of amalgamation. Sometimes, it feels like there isn’t
enough space to accommodate them all. In tight spots, as we collide with each other, we become aware that our perspective is not the only one; neither is it the only correct one. To continue our existence, we need to change – to choose whether to limit ourselves to our own bubble, or to react with force and violence, or, perhaps, try to understand and accept the possibility – inevitability, even – of difference.
Differences can enrich our world, make it more exciting and alive. Attempts at
understanding can elicit bafflement, curiosity, recognition; if not always delight, then
at least a peace of mind – a feeling of liberation that comes from allowing the world to be more than a monoculture made up of clones.
In our conflations, we study and reveal different layers, angles, thoughts,
their past and future, their interactions and confluences.
Simone Fezer is a German artist working with glass, performances and installations.
On extensive travels, she has worked as assistant to renowned artists and studied at
various international schools such as the Penland School of Crafts, and Centro
Studio Vetro in Italy. She had a residency at the Tacoma Museum of Glass in
Washington, USA in 2016, and at Gallery S12 in Bergen, Norway in 2020. In 2019,
she was awarded the Irvin Borowsky International Award of the University of Arts,
Philadelphia. She has a Teaching Assignment for Sculptural Glass at the Academy
of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Germany, and exhibits her mostly large-scale installations in
Glass and Mixed Media nationally and internationally.
In her work, Simone Fezer addresses the fragility and interdependency of all life, and aims to create interdisciplinary and immersive environments. She likes to collaborate with other artists, bringing together installation, performance and multi-media, creating stages for the viewer to enter and explore.
Kai Koppel is a daring experimenter in the field of hot glass, working with the
medium since 1975. Her early works included spatial glass objects. During the
1980s, as a young artist, she opposed the rational, geometric conventions of design
with her own Dionysian method, based on the expressive randomness of hot glass.
Instead of form following function, and contrary to consumerism, she drew inspiration from symbolic imagery, from nature, from ancient architecture; she became known for her large, columnar forms that took on the appearance of architectonics. She is a process-oriented artist for whom the physical involvement with the material and technology is essential.
Kati Kerstna is a socially sensitive artist with a focus on environmental topics. She
likes to visualise her topics via the contradictory nature of glass. Testing the border
between fragility and strength, playing with transparency, reflections, light and optics
are some of her tools. Her creations are sculptural installations which draw attention
to both space and form, and their illusoriness. She has been active as a curator
whose endeavours have brought attention to Estonian glass art in the world.
Currently, she is co-curating exhibitions of Baltic glass art. Together with Kai Koppel
and Simone Fezer, she has contributed to the organisation of the Haapsalu hot glass symposia.
