In May 2023, artists Jim Champs and Peter Bremas visited Iceland. Vatnaykor– The second largest glacier in Europe. A close witnessing the traces of the huge ice formation and the traces of climate change caused by it gave two artists in collaboration.Tribute to glaciersA recently held exhibition at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
“The art plays a powerful role in conveying the state of the changing earth,” said Lydia Pilcure, a part -time professor at Colombia Climate School. Recent interviews: “One of the things that art is really wonderful is that it reminds us how we humans are part of the natural world.”
The research on Chang and Bremas has just realized that. Using two different media (glass sculptures and oil paintings), the connection with areas that are exposed to distant threats provides the viewer a sense of our position in the world.
The viewpoint of the Chang covers a vast landscape. The geometric shapes of glaciers and icebergs appear from the water area, with the approaching mountains and the overhanging clouds, all of which combine to emphasize the huge glacier shape. The soft blue, white, yellow, and purple shades capture the delicacy of the light in this area. Chang is known for both landscape paintings in both Berkshire regions in western Massachusetts and other places around the world.
In contrast, Bremas, a Dutch artist and glass sculptor, is particularly focused on a unique glacier. With his glass molding technology, you can express clear details on the glacier surface, such as curvature, ripples, and tears. Changing the thickness of the transparent glass changes in various ways. The size of the sculpture is from 20 inches to 40 inches, and weighs more than 100 pounds. Bremers also exhibits glass sculptures at the ICE AND WATER, a solo exhibition held at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, and has returned to the early Iceberg Series, which began several decades ago.
The artists together work Provides a wide range of contexts and intimate focus on the Vatnaykor region in southern Iceland.
In an interview with GlacierHub, Bremers and Chants talk about the creative processes and the source of inspiration.
This interview is edited to make it clear and concise.
Why did you decide to create a work especially based on the Iceland Vatnaykor Glacier?
Chants: Peter just visited it a year ago and proposed an area to visit, such as Lake Yokurusu Luun, the southern end of Vatnaykor. As the glacier melted, the development of this lake has been developed since the 1940s, and it is now the deepest lake in Iceland.
Bremers: I have been to Vatnaykor three times, but every time I can see how this city shrinks. You can see how the glacier is growing into a vast lake, even though the distance from the sea to the actual glacier is still far away.
You went home, talked about your common experience, and made a work. In contrast to the work of Iceland on the site, how did you think this reflection has influenced your art?
Champ’s: After I got home and started working in the studio, I had an idea of ​​tribute to glaciers. The ice calf is a monument to the glacier. They are temporary and last for only 1-2 weeks.
It was a really special experience that I was able to move myself and take this place while working in the studio, leaving myself. I did not expect this inspiration to come from one place called Lake Lake.
Could you talk about the experience of dealing with glass?
Blemers: Ice and glass are very similar, but contrasting. The ice collapses when heated, but the heated glass has an exhibition. Kiln casting [creating an object out of glass in a kiln]Start with an industrial form that is as soft as Pinwood. Thanks to that, I can work accurately and relatively quickly.
When the mold is completed, make a mold to fix the glass. The term representing this is “casting”, but it does not strictly “cast” hot glass. Put a chilled glass in an open -air mold and heat it in a kiln to make a mold shape. It needs to cool down very slowly, which can take several months. Finally, grind completely and polish.
How do you explain your work and the source of inspiration?
Chants: Our work has a sense of unity, but as in our inspiration, the work itself is very different. For me, it was a Yokuruserloon. For Peter, it was a diamond beach, a coast near the lake that returned after the glacier debris was transported to the sea.
Bremers: Converts the beauty of ice into an abstract sculpture. I want to express the way of involving ice and light, and express the structure of ice and how it melts.
When you walk around these pieces, the structure appears suddenly. change And it looks like a waterfall. The current change is synonymous with the change in the glacier.
What kind of message do you want your work to convey?
Blemers: As an artist, I sometimes say that we are witnesses. We convert the world into our own work. Perhaps it’s a sad idea that people would have to go to the museum to remind them of what they had once had glass sculptures in iceberg and glaciers?
Champ’s: I was just thinking about the painters of the Hudson River in the 1850s. They understood that the United States was changing, whether it was mainly for the purpose of recording it or the purpose of drawing the beauty of the landscape. They will have this vast landscape with small factories and smoke on the horizon. It was a warning about the change caused by human causes. We are also documented like this. After all, for me, I think it was an idea to open a door to a new way of working and draw beauty.
Click here for details of the exhibition. Berkshire Museum (Closed on January 5, 2025) or Chrysler Museum (Closed on January 19, 2025)。 Late this year, Chang and Bremas Sandra Einzley Gallery In Toronto.
