“I’M THE DIRECTOR OF THE GLASS,” says Pieke
ARTFUL EXECUTION A young designer is garnering worldwide attention for her ingenious take on traditional materials Text by ANH-MINH LE Photographs by MARJON HOOGERVORST 46
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Bergmans, explaining her role in creating the glass pieces in her portfolio. The Amsterdam-based designer was introduced to the wonders of glassblowing about five years ago—when she was invited to participate in a Dutch exhibition that paired artists with those in the glass industry. “I was amazed by the process,” she says of watching the master glassblowers at the 134-yearold Royal Leerdam Crystal factory, “but also disappointed in the results. I thought the forms were beautiful, until they were dropped into these molds.” So she decided to try something different. “I asked the glassblowers to forget about the molds,” she recalls. “I said, ‘Let’s work with the movement of the glass.’ By doing so, you get more exciting shapes.” For her collaborations with Royal Leerdam, she works with “the very best glassblowers,” she says, noting that it takes at least a decade of experience to be considered even a good glassblower. A blower wraps the molten glass around a pipe and inflates it much like a balloon. Then, as directed by Pieke, another craftsman pulls and pinches, wrests and warps the glass. “Every piece is unique; it’s never the same,” she says. While some people might frown on irregularities, Pieke celebrates them.