Fusing & Kilncasting

Emma Varga

During this class, Emma will introduce her original method of fusing and casting multiple layers of glass, which she has been exploring and developing, with great success, for the last ten years. This innovative technique enables fusing/casting of thin glass sheets used to set up layers composed of tiny mosaic-like elements, thus achieving three-dimensional images inside the transparent fused/cast sculptural object. This course will focus on a new way of 3-dimensional thinking in creating glass object; on using properties of glass to achieve visual effects as well as to achieve sense of movement within cast glass object. Students are not required to have previous experience in glass fusing. Beginners will be able, along with students possessing advanced glass fusing skills, to create and finalize their own 3-dimensional glass objects during this two weeks course. Additionally, students will receive basic information about grinding and polishing 3-D glass objects. A limited number of student’s cast objects can be polished during class. At all times during the course, students will have access to extensive digital gallery on file in Emma's laptop: images of recent work as well as close-ups revealing fine details on layers inside the glass object. Expect to discover an exciting new method of creating images within transparent 3-dimensional glass objects.

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Emma Varga

Emma Varga was born in former Yugoslavia, in 1952. She graduated from the University of Applied Arts in Belgrade in 1975 as Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Glass Design and Ceramic Sculpture. Since 1975, she works as a freelance artist producing her own glass art and design. In 1995, Emma moved to Australia where she currently lives and works at a studio on one of the Northern Beaches of Sydney. In early stages of her career in Europe, Emma participated in landmark exhibitions such as the 1st "Coburger Glaspreis" 1977 and "New Glass" in Corning 1979, "Vicointer" in Valencia 1983, 'Contemporary European Sculpture in Glass' in Liege 1989, as well as in 3rd & 4th "Interglass Symposium" in Novy Bor (Czech Republic) in 1988 and 1991. In recent years, Emma Varga's work has been consistently shown in exhibitions in Australia, as well as in the United States, Europe and South East Asia. Her work was selected for the Australian component organized by Object Gallery for the exhibition, Import Export: Global Local, at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2005; and she had solo shows at the Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade (Serbia) and Axia Modern Art Gallery, Melbourne in 2006; at the JamFactory Gallery in Adelaide, Hodgell Gallery in Florida and SOFA Chicago in 2007; Sabbia Gallery in Sydney and SOFA New York in 2008. She has taught classes and workshops in kilnforming, her fusing/casting technique and cold working of cast glass objects for the past 8 years in Sydney, Zurich, Budapest, London, Belgrade, Zagreb. Recently she gave lectures on her work and techniques in Singapore, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Sydney, Sarasota (FL) and Wanganui. http://www.emmavarga.com/