Studio Glass Design FMC UTB Zlín - Visions of One´s Own

15/09 – 31/10/2021

exhibiting:

Michaela Trávníčková, Marie Sixtová, Kristína Maňáková, Michaela  Kramulová, Irena Czepcová, Petr Stanický

More than fifty years ago, renowned Czech sculptor and glass artist Professor Josef Kaplický noted that “…the mentality of glass will require a very refined state of mind. Resoluteness and a clear artistic vision on the one hand, and the ability to restrain one’s ideas, to be laconic and disciplined, on the other – a kind of dynamism glowing under the veil of discipline.”

Standing before the ostensibly variegated works of four young artists, namely Michaela Kramulová, Kristina Maňáková, Michaela Trávníčková and Marie Sixtová, the question arises as to where to find a common thread. The answer lies in the distinct and peculiar mission of integrating glass in all its applied forms. For these four artists, glass serves as a kind of transparent gateway into the human soul – a world of dreams and emotions. Glass is a medium for the expression of relationships and stories, serving to fulfil both its respective function and also to resonate with the character of its surroundings – in this way, glass becomes a kind of unique light-based substance that content is radiated into. If we return once again to the Josef Kaplický’s quote in the light of the exhibited artworks, we see how the words resonate within their midst.

 

For more than ten years, the Glass Design (Design skla) studio at the Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín’s Faculty of Multimedia Communications has served as one of the top established centres of its kind in the Czech Republic. Professor Petr Stanický, M.F.A., the head of the department, along with his assistant MgA. Irena Czepcová, offer their students considerable freedom to develop their own personal sense of artistic expression. Students gain inspiration by studying various aspects of their craft, including trying out various conceptual methods in glass making and looking for a way to expand technological possibilities with new media. One notable trait witnessed in these students  is a very specific pioneering approach towards working with glass that differs from traditional established techniques.  All this with a view of making a mark in the ever-developing international glass art scene.

 

Mgr. Silvie Stanická, Ph.D.

curator of the exhibition