Anja Isphording

Art Brokerage: Anja Isphording German Glass Artist: Born in Germany, Isphording studied in Zwiesel, Germany with artist Franz X. Hoeller and on a scholarship at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague, Czech Republic with Vladimir Kopecky. She is the recipient of the 1993 Bavarian State Prize and a Juta Cuny-Franz Foundation Prize. Her work has been exhibited in Europe and is included in collection of the Museum Kunst Palast Dusseldorf, Germany, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, and the Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbemuseum) Berlin, Germany as well as other public institutions. Her unique style is never formulaic and each piece is a bold original. She explores the structures and patterns of nature without ever literally reproducing them. The surfaces of her pieces are covered with cell-like repetitions of geometric, abstract and natural forms, equally reminiscent of basic molecular structure, honeycombs or coral reefs. The biological reference remains ambiguous and Isphording leads the viewer to the rough-hewn, haptic quality of her pieces. Employing the lost wax casting technique, her objects are intimate in scale. They hold us close with rich, tactile surfaces and deeply saturated colors. Isphording's sculptures fulfill Paul Cézanne's ideal of creating a 'harmony parallel to nature.' While not replicating nature they are clearly organic and seem to capture a moment of growth. Listings wanted.