Prisms of coloured light
- Olga is a Kazakhstan-born glass mosaic artist based in New Jersey
- She studied glasswork at the Wertzberger College of Applied Arts in Tel Aviv
- Her glass mosaics are inspired by nature and cities
Olga Gobernik Kon credits her early studies in architecture for instilling in her a sense of composition, but her intricate coloured glass mosaics are guided by the material itself. “The lines in the glass tell me what the piece should look like,” she says. Her mosaics are created on transparent glass, where light becomes an essential part of the work. As sunlight passes through the coloured fragments, each piece shifts and transforms throughout the day, creating dynamic presence. Now based in Princeton, New Jersey, she participates in exhibitions around the USA and has works in private collections in Israel, the UK, Russia and Kazakhstan.
INTERVIEW
A friend invited me to participate in a glass mosaic workshop at her university. I was immediately drawn to the craft, and I decided at that moment that it was exactly what I needed to be doing. In recent years, I devoted myself to this work full-time.
My artwork is a blank space for the viewer’s imagination, not a book that must be read in a specific way. People should discover their own meanings in my work, by filtering it through their own lived experiences.
I cherish every part of the process, but when I finally finish a piece, I love stepping outside and seeing how the world has changed. Everything seems brighter, happier and more colourful. This is a moment I truly treasure.
Nobody knows what the right path is because there is no single correct path. Put people’s advice aside and follow your intuition. Only your path will be the right one for you.
