Red Torso – Restrain and Release series
This glass sculpture was inspired by the Japanese bondage practice of Shibari, characterised through its amalgamation of control and submission. Ropes bear controversial meanings (i.e. both violence and safety). Maria Koshenkova wanted to investigate the concept of freedom and the conflict between extreme materialism and fragility which glass represents. She sculpted the mould from real rope which she burnt to cast with glass.