BLUE CAGE VESSEL

by GALA FERNANDEZ, Mexico City, 2014

MATERIAL: Handblown glass, bird cage as mold
SIZE: H 45 x D 40 x D (top) 17 cm // H 17.71 x D 15.74 x D (top) 6.69 in

CRAFTSMANSHIP / PRODUCTION: by the skilled craftsmen with the glass knowhow of acclaimed glass company Nouvel Studio, Mexico City

This large glass vessel originates from a glass-blowing project, by Gala Fernandez, realised with the skilled glass-blowers of acclaimed glass manufacturer NOUVEL Studio in México City. The colour and crystal quality of the glass are remarkable and highly rated. The liquid glass is blown into various everyday objects from Mexican markets and birdcages serving as the moulds for this process.

The objects are a result of the interaction of the hot fluid glass with the molds: the final pieces carrying the marks and history of both their former existences. The project questions the status of confinement versus refuge. A cage can be conceived as imprisonment or a shelter for comfort. The glass works subtly capture this essence of limitation, protection and custody in a very imaginative fashion.
Distinctive glass company Nouvel Studio is famous for its high quality coloured and crystal-like glass. The firm - under the direction of creative visionary Michael Kramer - has done unprecedented work in collaborating with the most prolific established and emerging mexican architects, designers and artists. The is very high artisanal and craft skill required to blow those pieces, which can only be achieved through decades of passed-on knowledge.