Reshmi Dey discovered the story of her life and breaking its contours with glass, says Saimi Sattar
The tapping was gentle yet insistent and then a sudden shattering sound echoed around the studio. Two flowers broke off from a green decorative glass piece and made a clatter triggering collective ohs and sighs from the 10 odd people that were hovering around the glass artists crafting the piece at Studio Glass Sutra in Chattarpur.
“One has to go very slowly to remove the glasswork from the rod as the bottom part is cold and the upper part is soft. The upper part couldn’t take the shock and that is the reason it broke,” says Reshmi Dey, founder Studio Glass Sutra.
The piece, an exquisite green, opaque figurine, was work under progress for quite sometime and entailed frequent trips between the furnace and the heating chamber where the flowers are kept. If the glass was heated a little less, the flowers don’t stick, if it was melted a little bit more, then there was always the danger of the flowers falling off. This meant that it was not a simple process and needed constant switches between the two places. Brent Sheehan, a glass artist from California who had been holding the piece at the end of a blowing rod, shrugs at the loss. Reshmi says, “This doesn’t break our heart but yes, we do feel bad.”
Reshmi, an Economics graduate from Assam, ventured into glass around 1999. She made the long journey from her state to Delhi in search of doing something different where, “I could tell a story of life, experiences and my journey.” And that was despite her parents opposition who wanted her to do masters in the subject or appear for the UPSC exams. But she was yet to decide upon how she was going to pursue her calling. Initially she sat for MBA exams, qualified for some institutes, then attended workshops on Mass Communications and but realised that her heart was not in any of it.
“Then I saw some coloured glass pieces with light passing through,” and it was as if her life too was illuminated. She asked the person who had brought them questions similar to the ones that she now fields often— about how it was made, the technique and more. Initially she started with marketing them but did not want to sell something without understanding it. “I started studying online. I wanted to go to Firozabad but everyone objected. There were only two trains to the place and that too without any reservation. But I stood by my decision and headed there. I remember distinctly that it was May 1999 and after so many years, I am still at it,” she says. But there were some recurrent problems. She studied online but when she wanted something similar created, there was a skill, understanding and aesthetic gap among the craftspersons. So there was always a discrepancy between her visualisation and the final output. “So I decided that I should do things which they understand.”
It was as if seeing her persistence, doors seemed to open automatically. In two months, an institute called Centre for Development of Glass Industry came up which was commissioned by Government of Indian and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). “They invited Czech glass master Petre Novotny who is ranked as one of the three world celebrities in the field of glass art craft by experts. He was accompanied Martin Janecký, his assistant and after all these years we are still in touch.
It was from them that Reshmi learnt that glass has an art side also. “Here I learnt that it was important to understand the material and the design after which you think through the whole process and create it yourself,” she recalls.
She crafted her pieces and sold them to stores, as well as at places like the Blind School Diwali Mela. “The ones at the latter were more like hand crafted organic tableware pieces,” she says.
In 2007, she branched out into installation art. “I started doing commissioned pieces. My most expensive piece was a wall installation for a corporate on sustainability which was priced at Rs 27 lakh and a chandelier which cost Rs 25 lakh.”
Reshmi works with different methods of glass making. Hand blown glass is where glass is melted in a furnace at a temperature of 1050-1100 degrees centigrade temp. The molten glass which has the viscosity of honey is blown through the end of a pipe and given shape. This is the most difficult of the techniques. “While most people claim that they are doing this, it lathe blowing where borosil test tubes are attached at the end of a machine and given shape as well as design is what they are actually doing.”
Then there is flame work which is used to create more intricate and often smaller pieces like jewellery. “I have even created a 3x90 feet chandelier with this technique. Then there is fusing or slumping which is used to make platters and large installations.
However, while working with glass there are somethings that need to be kept in mind. If the glass is not cooked properly, it breaks. At her studio, she maintains the highest of international standards. The glasses that they wear to protect the eyes are made of didanium and there is proper hand gear.
Reshmi wants to create an understanding and an awareness about art where people can see the beauty of glass and craftsmanship. “There is design touching the boundary of art, with an infusion of craft. I am trying functional art as well. So there is a transition from design to art to craft,” she says.
Reshmi also points out that there are different types of glass that are involved. While for the coloured pieces, she works with recycled glass for the clear ones, it is the fresh glass that is used. To infuse colour she prefers the glass bars from Krugler or Reichenbach which are German based brands to camouflage the quality of the glass. Her devotion can be measured from the fact that often when the glass is being melted she shifts bag, baggage and dog to the studio where she sleeps on the first floor to keep a check on the furnace. “Glass needs to be melted at 1300 degrees celsius for 12-14 hours to be perfect,” she says.
She prefers to not make more than four to five pieces of each of her work as, “I get bored,” she says.
The pieces can start at Rs 1,000 for the tiniest one. The bespoke luxury ones begin at Rs 7,000 and can go up to a few lakh while the installations start at Rs 3 lakh upward. For the India Design Week, she is working on a range of lighting which incorporated textile with glass.
As for her future plans she wants to work with women and give them the hope and skill set to improve their lives as well as try and get the study of glass incorporated in some institute.