Lauren Wolfer, Associate Curator of Special Collections & Archives
Today we’re looking at a work from the (glass) vault created by Jörg Zimmermann! Distinguished by his signature blown glass through wire mesh technique, this is one of my favorite recent acquisitions.
Zimmermann was born in 1940 in Uhingen, Germany, where he currently lives and works. He attended technical college in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, with a focus on glass design, and went on to teach at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart for decades.
Known for his distinct honeycomb pattern, Wabenobjekte (Honeycomb object) was created when Zimmermann blew glass through a metal mesh; an unusual process that sets him apart from his contemporaries. When blown through the mesh, uniform “bubbles” take their shape. If you look closely within Wabenobjekte (Honeycomb object), you can see remnants of the wire mesh pulling and stretching the glass, which looks similar to taffy candy. When creating his pieces, Zimmermann is constantly smoothing the outside surface while the inside is left to his experimental process. Also included in the work are “red crumbs”, metal flecks scattered on while still in a molten state, which blend seamlessly with the glass. As seen in the video, below, he sometimes molds the glass “bubble” around an object to create an interesting shape.
Jörg Zimmermann has an appreciation for the natural world, replicating the patterning of things seen in nature in his work. Looking at Wabenobjekte (Honeycomb object), it could easily be a piece of fruit, an insect pod, or maybe even a crashing wave. He often uses earthy colors like greens, blues, and ambers. Which of these did he choose for the piece in our permanent collection? As he says, “Sometimes closed and sometimes open, [my work] shows the vibrancy of the glass in play with the light. Every day is different and surprising.”
When looking at a picture of Wabenobjekte (Honeycomb object), you might think it would be the size of a paperweight, like the ones Paul Stankard creates. In fact, it is an impressive 14 inches width, 13 ½ inches high. Several of our studio glass pieces are small in scale but, as artists learned the medium, they got bigger and bolder with their art making. As an early, international studio glass artist, the size of Zimmermann’s work is a monumental feat. Even as I opened it when it first arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find such a large-scale piece!
This stunning work is one of my favorites for several reasons: the color, the unique experimental process, and the uniform chaos… It’s just *pretty* to look at. The amber color glows warm in the light while the red flecks add a shimmer. The uniform bubbles create a pulsating movement that grows towards the back of the piece and keeps me searching. I could (and have) stared at this piece for a long time, trying to wrap my head around how he created it and how the interior was formed, but I’ve come to realize that that’s the magic of glass art.
Stop in and see more contemporary studio glass in The Glass Wing, which features three galleries of FWMoA’s permanent collection glasswork.