Through a glass brightly

Some of his pieces have an unexpected amount of movement in them, with often spiraling circles bursting in a type of dynamic planetary expansion. Titles such as ‘Quasar’, ‘Neutron’, and ‘Cosmic Egg’, allude to what Robert senses as the “immensity of the universe” and he brings to one of the most static art forms a pulsing multidimensionality. Other pieces like ‘River’ or ‘Blue’, a collage of masses of small squares were initially inspired to recycle small pieces and weave together a glass flow. Some pieces have an opalescent cloudiness, with no colour, just different transparencies separated by the leading.

Robert’s history with this art form goes back to 1979 when he started in his native Quebec to learn to work with glass. It was for him a ‘coup de coeur’ a ‘call of the heart’ immediately. He felt that glass greeted him: “I know you, old friend”. He started his own glass shop, but tired of the commercial aspect of the business. After eight years or so he switched to the café and restaurant trade, but kept his tools and would make occasional pieces for individual orders.

Historically, stained glass was used for religious art in churches and cathedrals, but in the late 19th century Louis Comfort Tiffany started to make glass for art’s sake. Robert continues this tradition, though his pieces also have an evolutionary and spiritual feel to them.

He moved to Auroville nine years ago and “had a dream to reopen a workshop without economic pressure. I was guided, it was so strong with synchronicities, to open a workshop here. It felt like a divine plan.” For Robert “glass is a guru; so many times when I was working with glass I was also working on myself.” He mentions that working with glass in his studio can be blissful, a “symbiosis with glass as my teacher,” and that the “way I react to life is the same as with glass. It can take me to a non-dual state of being.”

However, he doesn’t want to identify himself solely as a glass artist, so “I am looking forward to a contemplative break. I’m sure something new will come. Perhaps writing”.

His studio will now move to Last School, and whilst he could have sold his tools and glass, he felt that it was better to give something back to the community. Previously he taught students for two years and now a new wing has been added to the school – for which he even found a donor in Canada – and he has arranged for the school to have a readymade glass studio built from scratch, as a ‘clef a main’ he says, a ‘key in the door’ for the students.

I would not be surprised to see future chapters from Robert in yet unknown forms as well as, hopefully, students from Last School offering their own glass exhibitions.