Through the Looking Glass

Walking into Horizon Glassworks on the road up to Sayan, Ubud (Jl Tebongkang, T: 0361 780 4014) is akin to stepping into a parallel universe where the common laws of physics are disbanded and a pioneering sense of creativity hangs as thick in the air as the overwhelming heat emitted from the blast furnaces. The sign next to the maestro of proceedings, Ron Seivertson reads ‘Please refrain from asking questions until the break'. It is obvious why Ron and his workers can't stop to chit chat while they work. Blowing glass takes a tremendous amount of concentration and physical endurance. All this was quite evident when I saw the sweat on Ron's tattooed back and the tension in his arms as he wielded an iron rod with a deep red piece of still unformed glass.

Ron started blowing glass four years ago and discovered that his great grandfather was also a glass blower. He recently found out that fellow Norwegians with his surname ‘Seivertson' were also glass blowers. Alas, it's in Ron's blood. But there have been other major influences on his work as well. He credits two masters: Lino Tagliapietra and Pino Senroreto who are renowned as the best glass blowers in the world. "I was also deeply moved and influenced artistically by Gustav Viegland: the Norwegian great in stone whose work buckled my knees with his ability to capture human emotion three years prior to finding glass. This affected me so much, that I craved the ability to express ‘feeling' in any medium, as I have been overwhelmed with emotion and a need to express my whole life. Glass wise William Morris knocked me out completely with one look at his absolutely amazing ability to recreate nature and indigenous people. I begged the universe to someday come anywhere near this man's ability in hot glass."

There were many reasons Ron chose to set up his studio in Bali. He had been coming here for years and saw that there was a small glass movement here, so he got his foot in the door and worked in one of the studios. "I thought if there was any opportunity in the world for an emerging artist and to do what I want to do, it is going to be in Asia. Also, I've experienced that Bali is a 365 day a year trade show and the result has been pretty correct to my presumption that people from around the world will come and buy my glass, so that's what's been happening." And while it has only been four years since Ron's emergence, it is apparent that he is making quite a name for himself with his glass works throughout Asia. He was recently commissioned by a major client from the Philippines to do numerous installations including a series of huge glass flowers blooming from stainless steel trees for a stunning fountain display at an exclusive private island resort. Ron explained that the spectrum of precision required for making glass is huge depending on what you want to create. "The most important thing about blowing glass or reheating it is being able to sense the temperature. Fortunately, that's one thing that I had a really good feel for right off, whereas for most people it takes a long time to get that. When it comes to making the torsos and the solid sculptures that I do, one wrong move can ruin the whole piece, especially in the beginning. The practice of repeating and honing that skill is paramount to achieving your desire."

The process of making a torso has many sequential steps. First Ron has to gather up a certain amount of glass in sequential dips into the molten material. Then he proceeds to form an hourglass shape with a tool called a ‘jacks' which is used to shape the cylindrical portions of the piece. Next he flattens the back and front, which helps set up the breasts for a female torso. After this, he tapers the legs, pulls the beginning of the breasts and proceeds to cut in the butt and shape the beginning of the length of the legs. Next he must make sure that the waist isn't too thick or thin; he uses the jacks tool once again to define the hips and carves continually into those basic shapes until he has achieved the desired finished product. Finally, he completes the bottom and transfers it to a punting. "People ask me why is art glass so expensive?" Ron states, looking up from his latest piece, "they have no idea of what goes into the achievement of creating something really artistic. The truth is that every bit of my life experience goes into this work. I don't do it for the money. There's a lot of better ways to make money. I love this, and I feel this is what I've been called to do.