Agnieszka Bar

Vying to make artistic glass construction functional, the glass professor and practitioner transcends art and design employs the same contemporary approach as both an educator and designer in her own right. Reinventing traditional objects, recycling discarded materials and devel oping new solutions, The Wrocław-based craftswoman draws inspiration from what’s missing in her everyday life, plants and flowers. “I’ve always been close to nature,” she explains. “I grew up in a small town near the mountains.” As an associate professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Wrocław’s glass department, Bar looks to inspire an innovative sense of utility. As part of Wzorowo – a three-year-long initiative (2009-2012) endeavored with two other designers – Bar explored her own Polish heritage through reinterpreted childhood objects. Most notable from this collaboration is Kristal, a ceramic plate cast from one of her grandmother’s crystal bowls – an example of how both deeply craft-based media share similarities, even if she disagrees. “They require two entirely different processes, she explains. “With glass, you have a short time and need to make quick decisions while with ceramics, you can work slowly and develop ideas over time.” Today, the designer works almost exclusively with glass. Recent projects – including Group Vase, Sweet Feet and Reneval – are all sculptural forms infused with intended use. Tied together with colourful elastic bands, Group Vase brings uniquely curved test-tubes into modular arrangements. While Sweet feet acts as a multi-level serving tray, Reneval – a dome build from a network of glass tubes created with flame work, delivering water to plants – can almost be worn as a hat while “the thin glass tubes are almost like pl ant roots,” she explains.