When geometry and glass add up
- Štepán draws inspiration from maths, geometry and poetry
- He applied to art schools when he was just 14
- He fell into glass after failing to get into his art school of choice
Štepán Pala studied first at the glass art school in Kamenický Šenov and then in the department of architectural glass led by Vaclav Cigler at the Bratislava Art Academy. Between these two periods of study, Štepán worked for a while in a Czech glass factory. In 1975, after leaving the Bratislava Art Academy, Štepán set up a studio with his wife in the same city and started to work as an independent artist. After the collapse of the communist regime, he began to exhibit his works internationally. Štepán uses optical glass, melted and moulded to create geometric glass sculptures. His works have a drawn quality and emphasise movement through the inclusion of contrasting geometric forms.
INTERVIEW
Under the communist regime, I didn’t receive the recommendation needed to attend the art schools that I wanted to go to because my father was a pastor and I was not a member of the pioneers’ organisation [a communist youth group]. I was only accepted by a glass school because they lacked pupils.
While studying at the glass school, we had to create some ideas and designs for lighting. These projects gave birth to my first glass objects. After high school, I worked for two years on a full time basis in a glassworks factory as a technician.
When I received the World Craft Council Prize in 1992 in Bratislava for my sculpture Growth, a circle created from 96 segments. It was installed in the main entrance hall of the Association of Dutch Insurers in The Hague. Queen Beatrix of Denmark inaugurated the building and I was introduced to her.
When everything adds up beautifully. When the idea, the technology, the technique and the possibilities of the glass medium come together in one object.
