Alexander Kirkeby

Coki

Glassblower

©Nooa Nestor

©Enrico Fiorese

©Nooa Nestor

©Claus Troelsgaard

Glass art frozen in time

Alexander is an experimental glassblowing artist
He uses clear glass for its reflection qualities and zero-waste properties
His creations achieve beauty with contorted shapes that suggest pouring or freezing

Alexander Kirkeby has a BA in design from the renowned Royal Academy of Art, School of Design of Denmark, and he established his workshop in Aarhus in 2022. Constantly in search of unexpected tactile experiences and with a deep connection to tradition, he crafts functional and unique objects in glass. In his art, Alexander looks to the 18th-century Italian masters and marvels at their technique to produce classic shapes, all the while pushing his designs to the edge of possibility. His work suggests Medieval forms, yet is unconventionally twisted as if the pieces had been put under a spell. He explores the functionality of glassware to challenge how we think glass conventionally behaves and how it should look. A central theme in Alexander's work is the fusion of the strict and the chaotic.

Interview

©Nooa Nestor

What inspires you to craft timeless pieces?: I am inspired by historical buildings, churches and objects dating back to the 18th century. I am especially in awe of Neapolitan and Venetian glass collections made using techniques I cannot wrap my mind around. I have stumbled upon new expressions and techniques by attempting to do them.
What is the hardest part of your work process?: The hardest part of the glassblowing process is the glass itself. Though I have become quite familiar with its tendencies, it always has ways of surprising me with its difficulty. Sometimes, just finding out how and why something happens can take years.
What makes glass your chosen material?: I fell in love with its movement. It requires you to be fully aware of it from start to finish. Hot glass has a high level of duality with short distances between the contrasting poles. Slowly, I have learned its language, and the dialogue between me and the glass becomes more complex as I work with it.
Do you sometimes experience that your designs cannot be realised due to the frailty of glass?: When beginning new work, I push the boundaries of my skills. How thin or big something can be without breaking. I still get surprised about how unexpectedly it can behave. These moments are what I am chasing in my work: reaching that point when the glass itself is doing something original.

Alexander Kirkeby is a rising star: he began his career in 2016