Special Contributions

Beautiful Glass Art or Not Beautiful Glass Art
— Looking back on past award-winners —（６／９）

The 10th “International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa 2007” had a substantial collection of various glass forms, high quality finishes, and unique beauty. The individual esthetic sensibilities particular to glass stood out especially in the prize-winning works of Yukako KOJIMA, Pavel TRNKA, Midori TSUKADA, and Toshio IEZUMI. Ironically, the Grand Prize winner at that time was a small work with a plain form and color, which made us wonder if it was indeed glass. The artist of that work is Lene BODKER from Denmark. The title is “SECTION” and represents a tree fragment that resembles a human torso in a very original way. The rough surface looks as if it has been scraped with a hammer and the material appears very unusual. In the midst of a sea of beautiful glass works, this work had a simple form and a modest presence. That was why the work was selected as the Grand Prize winner, as one of the jurors described.