RON SEIVERTSON is a super talented artisan who lives his dream, set within the rice fields of Ubud, Bali. Ron is fiercely passionate about his craft of ‘blowing hot glass’ for a living, creative glass work that takes immense concentration, determination & superior craftsmanship. Read on, there’s a story to tell….
Ron Seivertson is a hot glass artist & it’s ‘mind blowing’ what this guy can do, he lives ‘on the edge’ with such intense devotion to his craft. The ongoing challenges of the hot glass process drive him in his pursuit to create masterpieces. Living in Bali for five years, Ron Seivertson is known all over the world in producing ‘one of a kind’ glass pieces that are unique!
Ron had been painting & creating sculptures before finding off-hand hot glass as his ultimate medium in 2003. From there, Ron took to Glass blowing & Hot Glass sculpting & studied in Seattle, the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State, USA & Melbourne, Australia. International exhibitions, sales & commissions have taken him & his product all over the world however, he chooses Bali as his home, studio & showroom.
Some years back, Ron set up Horizon Glassworks concentrating on creating beautiful pieces, like - bowls, platters, lightshades & vases in every shape & color, artistic glass pieces that look similar to the world class Swedish glassware pieces. People come daily to visit & watch him create, it’s a magical process, the sculpturing, the alchemy, however, it’s an extremely hot & exacting job, sweating over flame gas jets, turning & moulding a piece of moulten glass attached to a long steel rod, sliding it into a furnace & finally resting the piece which will then undergo a number of ‘steps to perfection’, making ready, to display his icons to the public! Ron started with¡ five employees & now has fifteen, employees that are keen to learn, to create, Ron trains them onsite & working with fire, naturally adheres to rigid international safety standards & controls within his workplace. To purchase an exceptional piece of glass art is for Ron, a terrific thank you from his heart.
With most artisans they progress forward, growing their original business, until they are ‘recognized’ whereby they are commissioned to ‘create’ product & step into the lucrative wholesale & export market. Retail is often a sideline business, until the general public ‘pick-up’ on their product, where the artisan must consider the options, set up their own shop or ‘consignment’ to other retail operators.
In the case of Ron, who has already made huge inroads into wholesale & retail, & being the free minded individual he is, has taken another road of discovery after meeting three like- minded French guys, Julien Espagne, Regis Anchuelo & Francis Auboiron, who armed with their various backgrounds, skills & passion took hold of a unique opportunity, setting up a hot-glass team, which they called The Five Elements. They found each other of different personalities, representing each of the four elements, Water, Earth, Air & Fire, the fifth element is the common medium that brought them together, Glass!
The Five Elements were inspired by the creative nature & the pioneering works of William Morris & after a brainstorming session in Bali, the idea to connect with the Indonesian archipelago Pre-Neolithic history of the Stone Age Java Man came to light. When the Java men was discovered it changed the written history of how & where we evolved. With the archaeological background of Julien Espagne & his ability to ‘flake glass’ and replicate items from the Stone Age, the idea took place & The Glass Age Exhibition was born, an exhibition to display the masterpieces that The Five Elements would create, by melding their unique blend of personalities, experience & histories together in a powerful and dynamic force to create collectively, rather than as individuals. The exhibition would demonstrate both blown & sculpted glass works that are shaped by hand in the traditional method, with various tools, momentum & gravity.
The Five Elements commenced their project with making life-sized spears in hot sequence & it’s believed that, this in itself, is an unprecedented effort in the history of hot glass. All the sculpted pieces are life-sized the hand blown sculptures are interpretations from the Prehistoric period onwards. The glass spears are relevant to any human tribe found on the planet. The tips of the spears are first ‘cold-flaked’ with Stone Age tools made of Deer Antler, then re-heated to be attached hot to the shaft.
My two favorites have to be, a complete skeleton including a skull, completely made from glass, & the all glass crocodile head with its jaws open, displaying glass teeth, what a piece, where would one display this?!
Glass enthusiasts, fine art collectors, historians & you, will find this exhibition unbelievable, if you can get to Jakarta, it will be well worth the effort! However, if you are heading in the direction of Sayan Road, Ubud, then I urge you to visit Ron’s studio, at least you may meet the man, view his creative workshop and admire & perhaps buy some of his early original pieces.
To commemorate The Glass Age Exhibition, a limited edition book has been directed by Wekku Ari Saaski & photographs by Deborah Cayetano. The book contains fantastic action & studio photos of the Glass artists & works, both progress & finished pieces.
Duta Fine Arts Foundation Jl. Kemang Utara 55A South Jakarta, Indonesia T. +62-21 799 0226 info@dutafinearts.com
Opening hours: Tue- Sat 10.00 to 19.00 Sun- Mon 11.00 – 16.00 Exhibition: 19 June - 18 July, 2010
Exhibition information, pre-sales & purchase of the book, contact Hanna, Horizon Glassworks, Hot Glass Gallery & Studio, Kengetan, Ubud, Bali. sales@horizonglassworks.com T: 7804014 & HP: 081337051309 www.horizonglassworks.com info@horizonglassworks.com
