Matilda Kästel Swedish, b. 1984

My interest in glass lies within it’s inherent properties and ambiguities as a material; hard but fragile, beautiful but potentially dangerous. In its warm state so soft it can be shaped by the hand; in its cold state hard, cold and sharp. To me this paradox is useful to create a contradictory experience; a meeting between beauty and discomfort.

I work with glass and mixed media, whether it’s other materials, kinetics or performance. Working with interaction, the body is an important part of my process. Both as an inspiration, but also as a working tool and as a recipient. Glass is tactile in every step of the making, and I want that to be perceived. It’s a contradiction to feel without touching, and I want it to be felt. I seek to include a tension in my work, a sense of not knowing exactly what an object is or what it’s meant for. Often something desirable and attractive, but also slightly unpleasant and uncomfortable. My work is based on objectification and marginalization, an action of resistance. I rarely make pieces that are merely made to look at; I want them to do something by themselves. To leak, to splash, to lash out. To be non-passive. I think of it as feminist strategies in applied art.