Personal data
Michael Kofod
Søgårdsvej 8, Gelstrup
4500 Nykøbing Sj
Born 1958
Workshop and exhibition:
Gallery 3G
Søgårdsvej 8, Gelstrup
4500 Nykøbing Sj
mail@micko.dk
www.micko.dk
Description of artist
The purpose of my art
My glass art has the main purpose of creating enjoyment and atmospheres.
Simply: Art for ordinary content people!
Therefore, I avoid creating provocations, disharmonies, polemics or intentionally ugly art in order to please ”the art of the aristocracy” and its censorship. (Which might be a provocation in itself?)
Atmospheres and enjoyment are the keywords. To achieve them, I strive to:
- Unite savageness and harmony:
- On one hand, I attempt to make the glass – in my perspective – beautiful and harmonic in the de-sign and colours.
- On the other hand, I simultaneously provide the glass with a touch of savageness, e.g., a knot, something crooked, something rustic or something surprising, that differs from the rest.
- Primarily, work with very organic shapes in all three dimensions and with as few straight lines as pos-sible.
- Use transparent, pure, strong and warm colours that match each other and the design.
- Exploit the transparency of the glass and create depth, refraction and tiny 3D-experiences. This brings life in the art and provides different expressions; depending on the angle one sees the glass art.
My inspiration
The beautiful nature - everywhere on Earth - is my main source of inspiration. It is beautiful, shimmering, savage, unpredictable, indomitable and completely without straight lines.
I wish for my art to be perceived likewise.
My techniques
The following section will shortly present simply two of my often employed techniques:
- The structure, pattern and colour of the basis glass:
I often create the raw glass myself through some proceeding processes.
Typically, I create the raw glass through several layers of processed glass in different colours. High temperatures make the underlying colours, with lower density, break through all the layers of glass and create the pattern.
This process requires that the temperatures and the duration are being control precisely, as the glass will only get the beautiful expression in a very small spectrum.
- Shaping:
I mainly shape the glass when it is in the kiln with the help of gravity.
This technique is called ”kiln formed glass”.
Rather simple when I for example make small platters in standard shapes. However, more complex when I make more sculptural work of art.
My products and ambitions
I prefer making relatively large things – e.g., 1 meter long platters, as the challenge and the complexity increase with the size.
Even though, a lot of my art is traditional applied art, as e.g., platters and bowls, it is my goal to provide the glass with artistic elements either in the structure of the glass, the patterns and colours or in the shape of the glass.
t gives me great satisfaction to create art that adds new expressions in the texture of the glass and its shaping to the glass scene.
It requires many experiments. My patterns in the raw glass (as described previously) required almost 900 attempts before I was able to control the process.
Therefore, I experiment a lot in order to discover the boundaries for what glass can be used for and what it can express. How far can I go…?
Permanent exhibition, workshop and point of sale
I have my workshop and exhibition in Gallery 3G since the gallery opened in April 2011. I am a co-owner of the gallery.
