Cathrine Maske

I am inspired by glass because it can be used in so many different ways. Some call it the world's most significant material. How would the world as we know it be without this transparent material?

Q&A

What craft do you work with?

I have MA in glass design, and BA in ceramics, but works mainly in glass. I studied for a half year as an exchange student to Sunderland University in 1993, and after that I studied for 3 years at University of Art and Design in Helsinki (now Aalto Universtiy), where I took my master’s degree. I started working as a glass designer in 1997, but my career took off in 2001. My main technique is hot glass, but I also work, and teach, in kiln formed glass.

What inspires you to work with this craft?

I am inspired by glass because it can be used in so many different ways. Some call it the world’s most significant material. How would the world as we know it be without this transparent material? For my own part, I use it both to create objects, art in public spaces, and functional design products. I work with both blown glass and kiln formed glass, like casting and fusing.

How does your creative process look like?

I use both drawing and writing as an important part of the creative process. Writing in particular is an important method of sorting out thoughts and developing ideas. The most enjoyable part is when I see that it is possible to actually implement my ideas, and when I take the objects out of the annealing kiln while they are still a bit warm. The most difficult, but still the most satisfying part, is to process the glass cold, as with grinding and polishing.

How would you best describe your workspace and what tools could you not do without?

My workspace is filled with objects, photographs and books that inspire me. I have my own studio where I write, photograph and work digitally. When I make my projects in glass, I do it either in smaller glass studios, or in the glass industry. The tools I depend on is my sketchbook, camera, and my Mac book. The equipment I need to complete my work, is the grinding and polishing discs.

Are there new techniques you would like to try?

It would have been interesting to learn how to cast in silver and bronze, and to combine these materials with glass (they are compatible). It ́s not exactly a new technique, but new to me. I would also like to work with 3D printing of glass. There is new research in the field of making transparent, optical glass structures for architectural dimensions.

What have you learnt or the best advice you have received that you would like to share with fellow crafters?

I’m not quite sure what my best advice is, but I think research is important issue in art and design; and find your own niche to stand out.

What other types of craft do you dream of collaborating with?

I dream of working with goldsmiths, but wood is also a material I want to acquire more knowledge about. It would have been interesting to make smaller objects that can be used on the body. But my dream is also to work on a much larger scale, such as glass panels, and large installations with light and glass in architecture.