Erika Mayer
Figurative Cast Crystal Glass
I was born into a wine-growing family in a small country town in the south of Germany. Since I was very young, I was immersed in nature and interacted with the world in imaginative ways. As a young artist living and working in Germany, Spain, Bali Indonesia and Australia, I exhibited and participated in many art galleries and public art exhibitions.
I am fascinated by the idea that there is more to life than the physical body, that there are a soul and an etheric or imaginative body. Essentially, I explore how this concept finds expression in the human form. I am drawn to glass because it is at the same time robust, enduring and fragile; it can do everything other sculptural media can, besides it is translucent and transmits light.
My figurative works are an example of this investigation; my human forms emanate light like the subtle infinitely connecting medium between the outer world and the human soul. The composition of my figures is inspired by the poetry of my imagination and experiences. I investigate how an inner imaginative life can be expressed not symbolically but in fluid and floating human forms that are created by the interplay of hues and colors.
Transparency and Fluidity
My inspiration comes from my interest in the human condition, my sense of beauty and the mystical elements that inter-connect human lives with each other and the natural world across time and space.
Crystal Glass with its transparencies and internal reflections allows the eye to abandon the dry outlines of a form and brings to life a luminous internal world.
I am exploring how the translucency and fluidity of my creative material evoke feelings of something limitless and sublime.
Creative Process
Each crystal glass sculpture is individually and wholly created by myself, original, unique in character and distinct in color tone.
Glass casting involves multiple developmental stages in which different materials are transformed. Following years of conceptual and technical investigations, I developed my own lost wax glass casting technique. Each step is complex and dependent on the results of previous cycles. No two sculptures are ever alike due to the unpredictable flow of the glass into the negative form of the casting.
My creative process – an ever-evolving project – involves an elaborate process of sculpting human forms and mold making, then using the lost wax casting process and cold working techniques that produce luminous surfaces.