Karin Mørch

Glass sculptor

©Robert Lund

©Ole Akhøj

©Karin Mørch

Growing up a glassmaker

Karin is from a glassmaking family
Hers is a complex process of creation
She tries to capture movement in glass

Karin Mørch has dedicated her career to glass, just like her parents. Her father Torben Jørgensen has been active in glass for almost 50 years, not only as a famous designer and creator of glass objects, but also as a glass teacher and constructor of glass kilns. Karin's mother, Jytte Mørch, works mostly with glass pictures. As a teenager, Karin earned some pocket money helping her parents. Today she enjoys her father's help and advice as she pursues her own work, and has the luxury of using the different equipment in her parents’ glass workshop. Working with mould-cast sculptures, Karin's artistic vocabulary includes organic zoomorphic forms, graphical lines and soundwaves expressing movement.

Interview

©Kristina Bonne

©Torben Jørgensen

Please describe the complex process from very first sketches to final sculpture.: I cut the object in foam and make a casting mould from this model, in which bits of glass are placed. This is fired and annealed for several days or weeks depending on the size of the sculpture. Afterwards the mould material is removed, and the glass is ground and polished. Finally, it can be sandblasted.
Preparation of a solo exhibition can take you almost one year…: Yes, mould casting is a time-consuming process and it can take months to prepare a new series of glass sculptures. But it was a milestone for me to be presented in a solo exhibition in the US and the American market is very much in my focus.
Why do you mostly work in series?: I find it interesting to see the different variations that occur using the same profiles. The shape being turned upside down or stretched in another direction can completely change the expression of the sculpture.
Why do you like to explore the inner part of the sculpture?: It is a place to get lost in, a micro-cosmos. It is a story of the material merged with the stories and beliefs in my mind. It indicates an inner space as well as shaping the outer lines and movement of the physical object. It is a parallel to another world, a space that continuously captures my curiosity.

Karin Mørch is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2002