Alma Jantunen

Lasisirkus

Glassblower

©Johannes Rantasalo

©Alma Jantunen

©Johannes Rantasalo

©Alma Jantunen

A multi-skilled traditionalist

Alma studied in Finland and at the Pilchuck Glass School in the US
Murano glassmaster Pino Signoretto has been a big inspiration
She draws on traditional methods from Italian and Finnish masters

Alma Jantunen lives and works in the Nuutajärvi glass village, some 170 kilometres from Helsinki. In every sense of the word, she can be called multi-skilled. She specialises in colours, glass furnaces, glass melting and casting, and has mastered mould blowing, freehand blowing, glass sculpting and the incalmo and filigree techniques. No wonder her studio is called Lasisirkus (Glass Circus). Her wide palette of skills is a result of studies and work both at home and abroad. Traditional methods constitute the basis of her work, which is inspired by the material itself but also by nature, weather, fauna and flora, and even people and toys.

Interview

©Johannes Rantasalo

©Johannes Rantasalo

What is your educational background?: I studied at the Wetterhoff School of the University of Applied Sciences in Finland. At the Pilchuck Glass School in the US I learnt glass sculpting from the Venetian master Pino Signoretto and glassblowing from Dante Marioni.
What suprises people about your work?: People often ask how long it takes. A glass vessel can be made in a minute, but learning how to make it takes years. I throw away pieces that aren't good enough; sometimes everything breaks. It takes a lot of work to obtain high quality where the design turns out well.
How do tradition and innovation entwine in your work?: Traditions are the basis of my methods. I know how things were made before and I use that tradition when making or designing objects. Innovation is trying out, practising and finding new things. After that I can call them my works, my art.
When did you open your workshop?: I graduated in 1996. Then I worked for one year as a glassblower in a production studio and for a year in Hadeland Glasswerk in Norway. I started my studio with a friend in 1999. We have been making our own series and unique glass objects ever since.

Alma Jantunen is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1999