Anja Isphording

With glass as her medium and lost wax casting as her primary technique, Anja Isphording creates idiosyncratic sculptures that always appear familiar enough for us to recognize that they’re inspired by nature, yet rarely resembling anything that we have actually encountered. Through her sculptures Isphording offers us a deep look into nature’s patterns and structures, we come away with a renewed sense of wonder at its complexity.

Isphording’s intricate forms are admired by experts and makers as much as they are by laymen. Juried into the Corning Museum of Glass’ prestigious annual New Glass Review an unprecedented 10 times, Anja is a multiple award-winning artist who studied glass in Germany and in the Czech Republic. Since 2000 she has lived and worked in Canada. Her works are represented in numerous public collections including the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Museum of American Glass, Wheaton, NJ, Glass Museum Kamenicky Senov, Czech Republic, Museum of applied Arts, Frankfurt and Kuntsgewerbemuseum, Berlin Germany, among others.

First modeled full-size in wax and then cast in glass, Isphording’s compositions often require multiple firings. When finished, the sculptures have a tactile quality and emotional range that sets them apart from contemporary trends and renders them timeless. Each piece takes months to create.