Art workshop: Glass sculpting demo at AlHamra till April 26th

Czech artist, Jiri Pacinek, has over 30 works on display.

LAHORE:

Jiri Pacinek, a leading glass sculpture artist from Czech Republic, and his assistant David Cherny are demonstrating their craft in front of the LAC Gallery 3 till April 26 between 10.30am and 8pm every day.

The mobile workshop has a work bench and two ovens- one to heat the glass and other to cool it slowly.

Pacinek, who is visiting Pakistan for the first time, says he enjoys making animal sculpture. He has been making glass objects for 26 years and says he first learned the technique at the age of 15.

More than 30 pieces are currently on display. A black horse head, which he says took him eight months to complete, attracted most attention on Wednesday.

“It takes a lot of practice and experimentation before getting the accurate size,” he said.

Pacinek has taught at schools in Holland, Germany, US and India and has also exhibited his works.

He says he had observed that glass cutting and glass painting were more popular art forms than glass sculpture.

“Even in Czech Republic, not many artists pursue glass sculpting,” he said.

Pacinek and his two assistants produce glass objects for six companies in Czech Republic.

On the invitation of the Embassy of Czech Republic, they have brought cut glass objects and pottery for display and sale at the LAC. He says the pieces contain element of Czech culture and are priced between Rs1,200 and Rs300,000.

Curator Tanya Suhail noted that glass sculpting was not taught at any art school in Pakistan. She said the Beaconhouse National University was looking into the possibility of introducing a course in glass sculpting.

Students from the University of Gujrat and the Lahore American School attended the first day of the workshop. Students from BNU are expected to visit the gallery on Thursday (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2013.