Felekşan Onar

Fy-Shan Glass Studio

Glass sculptor | Istanbul, Türkiye

Living and breathing through glass

Felekşan is a glass artisan whose work has been exhibited worldwide
She uses various techniques from fusing and slumping, to kiln casting and flame working
In her atelier in Istanbul she also trains young graduates and emerging designers

After completing an undergraduate degree in economics and music history at Cornell University and a master’s degree at Harvard Business School, Felekşan Onar deviated her life’s course entirely by moving to the world of glass. The Turkish artisan began her career in a private atelier before receiving formal training in traditional glass making at The Glass Furnace in Istanbul. By 2003, Felekşan had established her own atelier, Fy-Shan Glass Studio, where she experiments by blurring the boundaries between traditional craftsmanship, modern design and contemporary art. “I describe myself as a person who speaks through glass, who breathes through glass,” she says. Her most well-known work, Perched, is a metaphorical series of glass birds that reflect the plight of refugees in Türkiye. Felekşan's works are part of important public collections such as at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Riihimaki Glass Museum in Finland, among others.

Interview

©Serhat Özdemir

How do you express both tradition and innovation in your work?: While I use traditional glass making techniques, I continuously explore improving these techniques through methodological trial and error. Techniques in making glass have not changed much over the last 100 years. There are obviously better kilns, as well as materials such as fire-resistant textiles, that I explore in my work.
What do you love most about your craft?: I love creating and forgetting myself while creating. I like using my hands and that has always been the case. It has a meditating effect on me.
What would be your advice to someone who wants to practise glass making?: To try and experiment as much as possible and to keep a serious diary of those trials. It will be a treasure chest later!
Would you consider your craft to be in danger of extinction?: Yes, because it requires a lot of patience and you do not get much in return. The younger generation does not deal well with this. I do not see a second generation of masters taking over the craft of their parents, which is a big loss, as this is a craft that cannot be fully mastered in one lifetime.

Felekşan Onar is a master artisan: she began her career in 2003 and she started teaching in 2007