The ANU School of Art mourns the passing of Klaus Moje, original artist, innovator, mentor, leader and friend. The School extends its heartfelt condolences to Brigitte Enders-Moje and their family.

Klaus Moje sitting in the area that would become the Glass Workshop, August 1982, Canberra Times Photo

It’s rare for any individual to impact and influence a field in as many ways as Klaus Moje has achieved within contemporary glass. The innovation manifest within Klaus’ work and his approach to teaching dynamically changed the way we think about glass as a medium for creative expression. His approach and his work also created a whole new industry of kiln-formed glass as a medium, which is now internationally known and practiced by hundreds of artists across the planet.

Klaus was born into glass, working in his family’s glass factory in Germany, before establishing his own studio in the city of Hamburg. Klaus was an apprentice in a trade, however, was drawn to glass as a medium for creative expression and in the mid 1970’s began researching Egyptian and Roman mosaic glass processes for his work. Though a period of intensive studio testing, that saw several years of failures, Klaus established techniques of working the medium that had not been seen within the vibrant and new Studio Glass movement. Studio Glass had begun in the US during the 1960’s when a critical mass of artists began exploring glass for creative expression outside the context of industry and mainly focused on hot glass or hand blown glass techniques.

In 1979 Dale Chihuli, then Artistic Director of the Pilchuck Glass School, USA and also a highly regarded artist in his own right, learnt of Klaus and his new work. Dale invited Klaus to Pilchuck, which is located north of Seattle, to share his working methods and ideas and the pair became life-long friends. It was on this trip that Klaus met the owners of the Bullseye Glass Company, Portland Oregon, who shared his interest in mosaic glass processes. Inspired by Klaus’ new work, Bullseye spent the next 18 months researching and developing a palette of colored glasses that would be worked together in the kiln, and in the process resolved some significant technical problems that Klaus had been experiencing within his studio. In 1981 Bullseye sent Klaus a gift to his studio in Germany, in a form of a crate of their new glass. At that time, Klaus had only a few months to undertake experiments with this new material because he had already been invited to start a new program for Glass education in Australia. Klaus’ collaboration with Bullseye continued throughout the rest of his life with founding owner Dan Schowere and Lani McGregor, both of whom became friends and collaborators.

Klaus arrived with his wife, Brigitte Ender-Moje to Australian in 1982 to become the inaugural Head of Glass at the School of Art in Canberra (later to become part of the Australian National University). He began teaching his first intake of students in early 1983 and from the start, his program changed education methods. I was fortunate to be one of Klaus’ first generations of students along with local artists such as Kirstie Rea, Helen Aitken-Kuhnen, Mikki Brown-Trail, and Judi Elliot. I don’t think any of us realized what we had undertaken. Klaus’ goal was to build an education program in glass from scratch, and in doing so, establish an approach that was fundamentally different to what had existed before.

Klaus at the Glass Workshop 1984

As students we were encouraged to experiment with ideas and this new material endlessly. What was significant and I remember vividly, was that Klaus built a community that was self-determined and accountable, there was little in the way of assignments and tasks, we needed to set these ourselves and explore our own ideas as undergraduates. Klaus instilled within us the importance to be aware of the wider world and to see ourselves within that landscape, and that was far more valuable than any formal teaching structure. He taught us that we needed to be masters of our methods rather than merely just masters of a material. Klaus’ approach to teaching was to get us into the studio every day and encourage us to work through our ideas. He worked under the belief that the skills and knowledge needed would form naturally, as they are needed, as we found our way. And he was right. He gave us marathon slide lectures about what was happening around the world and I see now how informed we became, all through his lens and passion. He inspired us to dedicate ourselves; and this remains one of the most important dimensions and ambitions to have within teaching.

Within his work, Klaus pioneered a new canvas, that of the medium of kiln-formed glass. He then developed this process and produced the most innovative and emphatic statements within the medium. His powerful use of multiple contrasting colours and strong abstract composition forms defined his work. The sublime technical language that carried this work was barely visible and his works presented an original way of working glass for a new generation. The processes he developed, or redeveloped, were first employed by Egyptian craftspeople thousands of years ago, and how an artist saw the possibility for works using these techniques in a contemporary context still amazes me. We just take it for granted today, Kiln-formed glass is a clearly understood and well-articulated medium. However, when Klaus was working with these processes in his studio in the mid 1970’s there was little but his powers of observation from ancient glass to go on. In building this language, Bullseye Glass were also pivotal in developing this medium and its uses for the sector, and today the use of this material and kiln forming techniques is now global.

Untitled 2006, fused and kilnformed mosaic glass, 7.5 x 53 x 53 cm

Klaus’ work still defines this area of creative expression. Many students who worked with him or who were influenced by him have also made significant contributions to this medium, graduates from the program, such as Jessica Loughlin, Kirstie Rea, Mel Douglas and Cobi Cockburn are just a few. However, Klaus’ work is still unique and still as original as was his thinking. Klaus continued to develop his voice over his career and there were several significant chapters for his work, including the masterful and large-scale wall works as well as the roll up series that were a hybrid process of kiln-formed glass and hot glass processes.

Klaus was also clear that he wanted his work to be viewed for what it was and within it’s own dialogue. I can remember when he was working on one of his museum exhibitions and the curator was developing the catalogue essay, within which he had articulated a link from Klaus’ work to certain qualities of abstract expressionism. Klaus was less than enthusiastic about this link, saying ‘his work did not need to be contextualized or supported through associations with other work or mediums. The way to appreciate glass was through looking at it.’

It was soon after Klaus left teaching to focus on his work that he began to receive a significant list of awards for his work and achievements, some of these include: the 1995 Australian Creative Fellowship (known as the Keating Award after Prime Minister Paul Keating); the 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Glass Arts Society, USA (and to date Klaus remains the only Australian artist to have received this prestigious award); the 2001 Australia Council Emeritus Award; the 2004 Urban Glass (New York) Lifetime Achievement Award; in 2008 Klaus became an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia and in 2013 he received the Libinsky Award from the Pilchuck Glass School (an award that is presented by artists associated with this highly influential school).

Later in his career, Klaus made a significant contribution to the conceptualizing and realization of the Canberra Glassworks, a 12 million dollar public access facility for contemporary glass in Canberra. Many artists and groups supported the project, which included bipartisan support from the ACT Government. Klaus was involved in the early planning of the facility and played a key role in lobbying government on the merits of this project. The facility opened in 2007 and has become a landmark project that is internationally recognized, alongside the program he started at the Australian National University. Klaus served on the board of The Glassworks until 2015 and he was still making work until recently when his health began to waiver. Throughout his career Klaus had significant support from his family, especially his wife, Brigitte Enders-Moje, a highly regarded ceramic artist in her own right.

Klaus Moje in the Hot Shop(from l-r) Pascal Abaghardt, Klaus Moje, Alex Chambers, Glenn Bush, Tom Rowney

Through his work, leadership within education and advocacy for projects, Klaus has made Australia an international destination for contemporary glass of the highest quality. Klaus’ vision for excellence was matched with his distinctively personable approach. We have all benefited from his persistence and have grown within the culture he envisioned and realized. It's hard to imagine a world without him: Klaus changed what glass could be, how it was taught and along the way he touched everyone he met. He was an outlier, an innovator and leader in equal measure.

Associate Professor Richard Whiteley is the current Head of Glass and Convener of Craft & Design at the School of Art, Australian National University.