Like a magpie bird, Ans has always had a peculiar fascination for shiny objects, and especially for glass. The dutch-born artist has been working with glass for the past year, after becoming inspired by a workshop she participated in while in Varmland, Sweden. The fragile yet powerful material is what has always captivated Ans’ interest in glass, and is what continues to motivate her to experiment or “play” with the medium daily. Ans often compares her glass fusing practice to her background in the culinary arts, where “the more you experiment, the more things come out of it and the more fun you have.”

Glass fusion is a meticulous process that takes time. It can take 12 hours or longer for one object to fuse in the kiln. And, depending on the complexities of the piece, multiple firings may be required. Like the medium of glass itself, the kiln is a delicate tool that needs detailed attention. There are numerous stages of heating in the firing process: initial heating, process heating, fast cooling, annealing, cooling to room temperature, and more. All of these require particular amounts of time, based on the particularities of the piece! If the temperature is incorrect, the glass may break. So, familiarizing oneself with the kiln is a critical part of the glass fusing process. This is where much of the initial experimentation for Ans took place. A combination of “research and play” is what enabled her to become accustomed to the kiln, and furthermore create more complexities within her pieces.