We collaborated with Dutch artist Boris de Beijer to create a series of ancient-inspired glasses with a modern twist, available in a range of earthy tones.
A very special collaboration resulting in three different types of hand-made glasses, each with their own unique colorway, shape & features.
Boris was originally trained as a jewellery designer at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie but has been working with glass for over two years now. Craftsmanship, technique and tradition are important factors in his work.
For this series of glassware, Boris found inspiration in a technique used by a Japanese glassblower who uses his pigments in a distinct way. Instead of mixing the pigments into the glass, he lays them on top of it, creating a texturized but transparent layer. This adds a tactile element to the glasses, showing the two different appearances this material can have, a delicate contrast.
Using this technique, Boris juxtaposes two complete opposites, showing that glass can look fragile and transparent but also rough, almost like stone. The same material is being used but the look is completely different.
Working in glass requires outstanding craftsmanship. That’s why Boris works in close collaboration with expert glassblowers from Amsterdam. Here Boris’ sketches are brought to life.
The way the glassblower works is real manual work, there is no mold involved. Each glass is built up from scratch, the glassblower creates each piece purely from a place of feeling and technique. When working with glass you are constantly dependent on what the material wants. This means every glass is unique, no glass will be the exact same as the other. There will always be differences in color, height, and shape.
The process of creating a handmade glass is very special. A lot of things are happening in the workplace where exciting processes take place. You can smell, see and feel them. Either by smelling the smoke that arises from the tools, seeing the sparks shoot from the glass or feeling the heat coming from the fired ovens. The tools that are now being used to create these glass objects, were also used thousands of years ago. The whole process is magical to experience.