The tricky but rewarding process of negotiating with glass

For Li Yupu, glass is a perfect medium for reaching beyond the surface of life.

"Artists use techniques like blowing, casting and hot melting to transform glass into works of art with rich textures and different shapes," says Li, who is a professor from the China Academy of Art and vice-dean of its School of Crafts.

Li is the curator of the Hangzhou International Contemporary Glass Art Exhibition, which opened on Jan 10 at the China Design Museum of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and which runs until March 10.

Gathering together the latest work by 32 artists from countries including China, Japan, Australia, and the United States, the exhibition, which takes reality and illusion as its theme this year, seeks to present a visual feast of light and color.

According to Li, some of the pieces outline dreamlike spatial structures in bold, innovative lines, some create a serene and distant atmosphere through delicate gradations of color, while others combine technologies of light and shadow. It is the third iteration of the exhibition, the previous two held in 2014 and 2017, respectively.

According to Igor Frolov, an award-winning artist based in Montenegro, glass is a one-of-a-kind medium in that it can be fickle, constantly in a state of flux, yet also be immutable. He is displaying one of his pieces, Sequential Evolution, at the exhibition.

"Due to its characteristics, we need to negotiate and work with glass, to discover how to be its partner, its friend," he says.

"When I'm satisfied with the final result, I dance," he adds, saying that glass can "become an artist's collaborator" and helps convey their ideas with class.

This is a rather fitting metaphor for the exhibition as well, the curator says, as it has become an important platform for dialogue and exchange between artists from around the world.