Paul Schwieder

“When I originally began sculpting with the sandblaster (1985, I think) I was trying to find a way to articulate my perception of my relationships, particularly my relationships with women. Be it my mother, my sisters or my lovers.

To me, this newly discovered medium of molten glass had a most female like disposition so I tried to express that through blown glass with mostly unsatisfactory results. I was much more pleased with the results when I added the sandblaster into the equation.

It is important to me that the objects I make not only have a strong conceptual base but that they also build upon the qualities inherent to the material. Strength, fragility, transparency, opacity, fluidity and stasis; these are all elements that I attempt to instill or refute in my work. People often comment on how the pieces seem like sea creatures or sea forms. Having been raised in Saskatchewan, I try to draw on the grand sweeping gestures and vast subtle movement of the prairies more than on the qualities of the sea, with which I am quite unfamiliar.”