The exhibition Within and Beyond has emerged in the interplay between two artists and in dialogue between their artistry. BarroLevén’s starting point is a society in which efficiency and productivity are highly valued, a society in which pauses disappear all too easily, and space for existential questions and needs along with them. Sweden currently faces major health issues with rising sick leave numbers due to stress-related illness. The causes are complex and stress in life is nothing new, but one of the changes seems to be that recovery no longer comes to us naturally. How can the artistic voice through glass contribute to spaces for rest and recovery in today’s urban environment?
BarroLevén uses the qualities of glass to awaken curiosity and small moments of
wonder, creating space for a pause through a sensual experience. In Within and Beyond, perspectives shift in a play between micro and macro, and in a shift between inner and outer elements. Through an interplay of several components, spatiality is created – a room to enter, to be in, to view.
Glass Stones – hot-sculpted glass with a core of Foamglas© and glass colors
Inside – macro-film of the Glass Stones’ inner world
Veils of Glass – fused window glass in layers joined with a Mixed leaded-glass technique
The glass stones emerged during an intuitive exploration of materials in the glass studio, where Foamglas©, an industrial insulation product made of expanded glass, was combined with powdered glass dye and the clear glass from the crucible. In this union, a reaction and continued expansion takes place which can only be controlled to some extent. The stones are sculpted on a pipe, where piece by piece of the hot, soft glass is cut on, poured out and hardened in a shape influenced by rotation and gravity. In the compact transparency, light refractions awaken worlds and their own stories arise in convergence with the viewer.
Inside and out change places through a macro-film of the inside of the glass stones projected on the walls of the room. Viewers are offered the chance to enter the inner world of the glass stones.
The free-hanging glass sculptures made with a leaded-glass technique create membranes between here and there. Layers of window glass have been melted together and joined, piece by piece. The glass captures the light, refracts it and allows only some to pass through, like a membrane breathing light.
