Heike Brachlow (Glass) & JP Vilkman (Furniture)

A joint exhibition that showcases the talent of two visiting artists to the School of Art: Heike Brachlow (Germany) currently in the Glass workshop, and JP Vilkman (Finland) who recently visited the Furniture workshop.  

Heike Brachlow

http://www.heikebrachlow.com/

BIO

Born and raised in Munich, Germany, Heike Brachlow started working with glass in Rotorua, New Zealand, as an apprentice in a small studio. Having received her BA in 2004 from the University of Wolverhampton, her MA in 2006 and her PhD in 2012 from the Royal College of Art in London, she primarily works as a self-employed artist from her studio at Parndon Mill, and as an educator, teaching glass in London and at various summer schools. Heike’s often precariously balanced sculptures aim to physically engage: the viewer becomes toucher – invited by words or form, boldly or guiltily. Colour is an important part of her work: the exploration of the interaction of colour, form and light in solid transparent glass during her PhD research has led her to producing her own glass colours, adding metal oxides to the glass batch during the melting process. This enables her to create a personal palette, which consists mostly of subtle tones and polychromatic colours, that is colours that change in different types of light. Her work reflects her attraction to movement and transformation, both in colour and form.

ARTIST STATEMENT

The unexpected.
The slightly odd, the surreal, the uncanny.
Precariousness. Stability.
Equilibrium. Imbalance.
Things that are not what they seem.
Movement. Transformation.
Questioning rules.
Puzzles. Building blocks.
There but not there.
Fragile. Solid.
Ambiguous.
The potential for chaos.

As Artist in Residence I would like to send a huge THANK YOU to the staff and students at the ANU Glass Workshop, for making this work possible through advice, hands on help and moral support!
I would also like to thank Ceramics, Furniture and Sculpture for their support.

JP Vilkman

http://www.j-pvilkman.com/

J-P Vilkman is a highly accomplished furniture designer and educator based in Helsinki, Finland. Vilkman works innovatively across a range of traditional, standard, and digital technologies and exhibiting a deep commitment to craftsmanship and material process. Vilkman's work is exemplary in demonstrating an ability to incorporate a range of methods including his particular mastery with veneer and bending processes combined with integration of digital methods.  Vilkman draws on movements in twentieth century art including Art Deco, Cubism, Modernism, and contemporary large-scale architecture in designing his timber furniture. He exhibitied in the ANU SOA Furniture Workshop exhibition Crafted '14 at the Nishi Gallery in Nov 2014 and presented at an ANU SOA Art Forum event in early December 2014.

Image: JP Vilkman, M&K,  (M) - White oak, walnut (K) - Wenge(M) ) 60 x 45 x 45 cm; (K) 50 x 45 x 45 cm