New Location

I won’t be blogging here anymore, from now on you’ll find my blog on my new website, at www.matildakastel.com

Ta-ta for now!

Bite Me

I’ve had the idea to make glass jewellery for quite some time, and now I’ve finally got around it. I wanted to make something different from the usual fusing-foil-into-a-piece-of-Bullseye-glass, which is probably the most common kind. Also, I’ve always had a thing for knuckle duster’s. I don’t rightly know if these are actually a violation against Swedish weapon laws, but I decided if Alexander McQueen can, so can I.

This one is a silver plated double ring with three hand modeled and cast glass molars.

The next one is also a double ring, also silver plated, but with a row of front teeth that is made in one piece. Also hand modeled and cast glass.

Single gold plated ring with glass molar.

Single silver plated ring with glass molar.

All rings are adjustable in size, and nickel tested.

Mother Russia

My latest project, another take on the spice jars I did for my first project at the Danish Design School on Bornholm. This series is intended for jewellery instead of spices, and inspired by Russia with a lot of details referring to the Russian orthodox church, the Czarist Empire and so on. In short, I’ve gone for my usual aesthetics of extra everything. All jewellery boxes are hand blown, hand cut, ground and polished.

Dark blue bottom with sand blasted lid, twisted, solid knob, gilded chain and loads of red, plastic rhinestones.

Sand blasted with solid knob, gilded chains, dark red tassel, wooden icon, metal pendants and bow.

Sand blasted with solid knob, red sequins, rhinestone string, gilded chain and dark blue bow.

Pale purple, sand blasted with blown, twisted knob, pearl string, gilded chain, black wooden icon, plastic leaf and red plastic rhinestones. The bottom of the inside is covered with gold glitter.

Sand blasted bottom, facet cut lid with blown knob, filled with gold glitter, pearl string.

Sand blasted, with blown knob, green ribbon, gilded chain, metal pendants and golden leaf. All pieces are 650 SEK each.

Glava Glasbruk

Last week, me and my homies Monica Alvestad Amundsen and Marte Kartfjord rented a glass workshop in Värmland. It is located by the old Glava Glassworks, that made window glass until there 1939. Today there’s nothing left of the original glassworks, but there is a small studio glass workshop for rent during the summer.

We were supposed to stay for ten days, but due to an electrical problem in the workshop, we had to cut it short.

During the days we where there and able to work, a lot of people came to see us blow glass and were very interested in what we did. I spent my childhood summers in Värmland, and it was nice to be back.

Me and the others have decided to start a creative group, together with the lovely Jennie Olofsson, so this was our first project outside of school. Unfortunately our stay at Glava collided with Jennie’s participation at ART HVIDE SANDE, so she couldn’t join us this time. We missed her every day.

We had decided that our stay would be a combination of both work and holiday, so we made sure to have time for swimming, fishing and barbecuing as well as blowing glass.

Even though the technical problems with the workshop were frustrating and disappointing, we also had a really good time. If everything was in order and working properly, we’d love to go back.

 

Graduation Show Opening and the End of an Era

Saturday was the opening of our graduation show at Bornholms Kunstmuseum, and also our graduation party. It was a fantastic day, but also sad, because it meant parting from great friends.

My finished work, with the title Skulle du?/Would you? at the art museum. It consists of six blown glass cylinders decorated with mirrorizing, fake hair, fake eye lashes, pubic hair, paint, glass lips and glass breast implants.

My text about my work from our catalog:

My project is based on norms about appearance and ideals, and above all, the obsession about it in today’s society. What is beauty, and what is beautiful? How far are we willing to go in our pursuit for it? And is it really an improvement in the end?

Here’s a clip from TV 2 Bornholm, where I’m crying and being interviewed (although not at the same time).

A lot of people came to see the show, here’s one visitor asking about what kind of hair I’ve used in my installation.

School’s Out!

Yesterday, I passed my graduation here on Bornholm, with my project Skulle du?/Would you? The project is about appearance obsession, and asks the viewer how far one is willing to go when it comes to “improving” the body. My project profile can be viewed at: http://www.madeinschool.dk/matilda-kästel

Next weekend is the opening of our graduation exhibition at Bornholm’s Art Museum in Rø, and after that the exhibition will go to The Danish Design School in Copenhagen, Designer Zoo, Form/Design Center in Malmö and last but not least to Europäisches Museum für Modernes Glas, Coburg, Germany. For exact exhibition dates, check out our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crash-Burn/125932647489324

Right now it feels really strange to be leaving Bornholm in a little over a week, after living here for almost three years. I’m sorely going to miss the workshop and it’s 24 hour access, eating smoked fish every day, and my friends and teachers here. Then again, I’ll be getting my life back in Stockholm, which feels almost utopian at this point. Thank you and good bye, Bornholm.

Hot Blow Molds

A couple of days ago, we had an eight hour hot blow mold session. Team Sweden and team Norway joined forces to make some tests for our graduation projects.

 

Ms. Marte Kartfjord assisted with some bench blowing.

I had made some quite complicated animal shapes, which were hard to figure out.

The problem was to get a lot of glass through a very narrow neck.

The molds are preheated in the annealer, and since they’re almost 700°c, you need to suit up a little before you take them out.

Afterwards, we wrote some threats on the annealer so that people wouldn’t open it to early. I made an attempt to draw a skull and crossbones. Note how I managed to make the bone look like a turkey foot instead…

Then we rounded off with a sip of rum from the bottle. It’s funny how we have all these hand made glasses lying around, but we almost never use them…

Tests

Graduation is coming up, and in a few weeks I’m done on Bornholm. These are the tests I used for the catalogue; they’re not the final objects, but a part of the process.

The State of Things

Graduation craze, 14 hour days, mould making, casting rubber, casting and blowing glass, making wax models, a boiled arm…yeah, that’s pretty much my life at the moment.

Easter Suricates

A new side project piece, Frozen Suricate and His Ghost.

Suricates cast in blue and clear crystal.

I haven’t made one of these for a year; I had forgotten how difficult it is. After working on it during the holiday, I’m looking forward to getting back to my graduation project…