Deep time depicted through glass
- Jaan’s elegantly sculpted bowls and bottles imply existential concepts
- His process employs layers of coiled clear glass to represent the passing of time
- He strives to create calm, simple objects of beauty with a deep complexity to them
Jaan Andres Poldaas strives for perfection in the making of glass objects. After training at Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary, his pursuit of excellence took him to JamFactory’s production-based associate program in Adelaide, where six years of daily hot shop work refined his control of form. Jaan’s studio practice is focused on blown glass vessels and pared-back sculpture work using coiled clear glass. “My considered pieces are layered, referencing the sedimentary rock I studied in the Rockies when I lived in Calgary and ice cores I have seen in documentaries,” he says. Jaan has trained, exhibited and taught internationally in Australia, China and the United States. A constant point of reference is his uncle Jaan Aare Poldaas, a Toronto colour-field painter, whose example continues to shape his ambitions.
Discover his work
INTERVIEW
I took a glassblowing class as an elective and had no expectations. I walked into the hot shop and saw my instructor making a small paperweight. It demanded total attention. I was struck immediately and wanted to be good at it, so I focused all my energy on learning to blow glass.
I think I just need to make. I have an insatiable curiosity about combining different elements together and what the result will be. I enjoy taking risks and making pieces that are aligned with my concepts and principles.
I started coiling clear glass because I liked how it looked and how it distorted light. Years later, watching a documentary on ice cores, I saw similarities and realised I was building layers in the same way. It connected to my years living in the Rockies, where I was inspired by the motif of sedimentary rock.
I want to make really beautiful objects, calm, simple and carefully made, that function as considered artwork. Underneath it all is a desire to make art my uncle would be proud of. That is the measure I keep coming back to.
