Renata Schirm is a Finnish - Hungarian glass artist (b. 1974) living and working in Helsinki, Finland. Her work can be seen in exhibitions and fairs devoted to glass, craft, and contemporary art. They are included in public and private art collections, such as those of the Finnish State, Collection Kakkonen, and Saastamoinen Foundation Art collection.
The diverse language of glass has been Renata's focus for more than twenty years. Renata is fascinated by glass's physical presence, its ability to adapt both visually and through its formal language to the physical conditions of its surroundings.
The fluidity of molten glass to change shape is an important aspect for Renata when choosing molten glass as her medium. When working hot, sculptures are in her hands allowed to evolve rather than be shaped. "When working, I often see myself not so much as a creator, but rather as a director of my material... or even its assistant. I follow and document the formative tendencies of molten glass and refine them into art objects.”
In her latest works that use vast volumes of prefabricated glass material, Renata has shifted her focus from working with hot glass's expressional formative language to cold glass's visual presence. "Right now, I am tempted to underline the optical qualities of my material, its ability to engage with light and atmosphere, while still keeping the diverse and often contradictory associations that glass's materiality brings to my palette.”
To give space for the play of light with her objects, Renata keeps the formative expression to a minimum in her series with prefabricated glass. Pure rectangular shapes underline the simplicity of these items and the simplicity of their meaning. It really is all about glass itself: we are celebrating glass's materiality as it is, its beauty and expressive, yet contradictory nature in itself.
For the upcoming show of Finnish glass art in Galleri Glas, Renata will be creating a new set with her “Myriad” technique. In the “New Shapes” series, she replaces the basic rectangular shape and plays with simple geometric forms. The aim is to create facets and angles for the light to meet the material, travel through and reflect from, bearing a tonal variation in coordination with the form.
Besides participating in the exhibition with Galleri Glas, Renata is taking part in several exhibitions and showcasing her work in several galleries this year. Her work can be seen in Helsinki, New York and Dubai.