From the Expert Hand of Swedish Artist Paul Schweider “Strands and Structures”

Strands of thought, inspire and inform intricately carved, blown glass structures of both improbable strength and curious fragility.

Strands

1. The throughline (strand, if you will) of inspiration that I continuously refer to in my work. In short, strands of thought.
2. The “strands” of glass that my pieces are comprised of.

Structure

1. The natural structure of glass that I try to reflect in the work. Incredible strength yet equally incredible fragility.
2. The actual structures that I have been making with my pieces of late.

Born and raised in Canada, Paul Schwieder originally pursued furniture making until, he says, “I fell in love with a red-haired girl who was studying glass art and changed my major.” Though the relationship was short-lived, Schwieder’s passion for glass was not. Once he graduated from the Sheridan College School of Craft and Design in Ontario, he sought employment at glass foundries throughout the world but, instead, found himself enrolled in the prestigious Orrefors Glass School in Sweden. “I was comfortable with my ability to be creative but wanted to really master glassblowing.”

Schwieder maintains a staff of blowers located in Quebec and the Czech Republic who provide him with glass blanks blown to his specifications. The blanks (or “canvasses” upon which Schwieder works) are shipped to Sweden where he now resides, then finished in an exacting sandblasting process. Using a ceramic nozzle that discharges aluminum oxide crystals at an astounding 50-60 psi, Schwieder painstakingly removes glass until his intended design emerges, an approach he likens to using a hammer and chisel on stone. The finished pieces, which can take up to a hundred hours to complete, are alluringly sophisticated in both their unique forms and complex dimensionality.