Watch: Dubai-based artist blows life into glass

Anjali Srinivasan, glass artist and owner of Chochoma Studios going through the process of blowing glass at Chochoma Studios, Al Quoz Industrial Area, Dubai on Wednesday, 01 February 2017. Photos by Leslie Pableo

Dubai - Anjali Srinivasan, Director of ChoChoMa Studios, tells Khaleej Times why she is 'blown away' by glass art.

Nilanjana Gupta

Published: Fri 24 Feb 2017, 4:09 PM

Last updated: Sat 25 Feb 2017, 7:18 AM

For designer Anjali Srinivasan, art is where the glass is. Fascinated by thousands and thousands of pieces of over-the-top gorgeous glass, she's only one of the few, if not the only, glass artist in Dubai.
Her love for glass goes back to the days when she went to the National Institute of Fashion Design in Delhi 17 years ago. One of her first internships was with a glass company, as part of which she visited a glass factory and completely fell in love with the medium.
"I love glass because it's really intimidating but completely seductive. It has a magnetic personality for a material and it has a lot of qualities that other materials don't have. It has a lot of play with optics. It's brittle when it's solid but it's really flexible when it's liquid. I think it's such a conundrum that I am fascinated by what glass is and what it can be," said the 39-year-old glass artist.

(Video by Nilanjana Gupta)

The process called 'glass blowing' is intricate. She takes a blob of glass from a furnace heated at 1,200 degrees Celsius, wraps it around a pipe, blows a little bit of air into it to form a bubble, gets more glass and colour on top of it, and then blows it into a really big thin bubble.
After having launched her ChoChoMa Studio in Al Quoz, she works alongside two other artisans. They conceptualise themes for art shows and supply their works to other interior designers and architects who specify products for residential and commercial use. They also provide customised solutions in hand-crafted glass as ordered by companies for corporate gifts.
A simple lamp is priced at Dh25, while multi-coloured glass panels can go as high as Dh5,000 per square meter.
"Glass has taught me a lot as a person. It has taught me patience, determination, confidence, body balance and muscle memory. and things that you don't get to do in other media, glass has taught me all that and more," she cheerfully adds.
Blown away by this art? She also holds workshops, for a fee, for those who want to try their hands, and test their lungs, at glassblowing.
nilanjana@khaleejtimes.com