Lena 25+

For more than 25 years, designer Lena Bergström’s glass for Orrefors and Kosta Boda have been triumphant worldwide. We are paying tribute to this versatile artist with an exclusive selection of her classics over the years – together with a presentation of Lena’s new works: Anemones, Heart Flowers, Facets, Origami, Open Landscapes and Plissé.

Lena Bergström

Lena Bergström began her career as a textile designer – a background that manifests in her glass art. She finds inspiration in her interests in fashion, architecture and contemporary culture. Her love for the traditions, craftsmanship and especially the nature of Norrland, where she grew up, also provide inspiration. “Nature has always been important to me,” says Lena Bergström. “Norrland has so much sky – gray, white, light blue, with matte light and long, graphic shadows. But stumps in the forest can also be buildings in the city. Tracks in the snow can be textures on silk. Nature and cities, organic and sharp qualities, today and timelessness, strength and elegance – the contrasts between these poles add tension to my design.”

The exhibition Lena 25+ is shown between 30 oktober 2021 – 24 april 2022.

Pleats and Landscapes

“The cylinder is an archetypal shape that is gratifying to work with – very naked and pure. It could represent stumps and logs in a forest – or buildings in an urban landscape. I view the smooth Landscapes as three-dimensional glass paintings. I have chosen color palettes based on the season and landscape, dawn and dusk. Pleats are folds from the fashion world. I was inspired by architectural fashion designers like Issey Miyake and Hussein Chalayan, who have worked a lot with pleats and refined textile constructions. The folds in the glass create interesting effects when they refract the light, while the sand blasting creates a misty result.”

Pleats Cylinder Vase (edition of 10 objects): 17 000 kr.

Pleats Bowl (edition of 10 objects): 17 000 kr.

Landscapes Cylinder Vase (edition of 10 objects): 17 000 kr.

Facet

“Facets are flat-cut surfaces that have always fascinated me. They reflect their surroundings and shine beautifully. Over the years, I have developed different characters with facets as a common denominator – in different expressions, different objects. In these cut, prolonged buildings of all sizes, I’ve combined glossy, matte and rough facets into an irregular harlequin pattern. Making this possible, requires a great deal of skill and patience from the glassblowers and the master cutters.”

Facet with a plinth (edition of 5 objects): 32 000 kr.

Origami

“I lived and worked in Japan – an incredibly fascinating country with a versatile, exciting culture – for a few months in 1991. Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper to make three-dimensional objects. In this collection, I was inspired by this tradition, and I’ve translated the folds into cuts in glass. An interesting, weak play of shadows arises in the matte-glossy glass. Wood and stone form the foundation to stand on, like buildings in a folded urban landscape.”

Origami (edition of 5 objects): 32 000 kr.

Heart Flowers

“You could view Peony, Anemone and Heart Flowers as imploded, and as variations of Squeeze and Planets. They are based on experiments with clear, opaque and metal-colored glass, free and a little crazy. I think these flowers have what I call experimental elegance – and imagination. Each ‘floral ball’ is personal and unique. To make them, multiple glassblowers join spheres of hot glass together in the hot shop – they’re literally melted together. It is an intimate and intuitive process with a lot of action, here and now. When the glass cools, I draw what each flower should look like. Then the master cutters take over, with their magic touch. The unique Heart Flower is born.”

Heart Flower Turquoise and Pink (unique): 47 000 kr

Heart Flower with wooden plinth (unique): 45 000 kr/ 47 000 kr

Anemone

“These objects which I created exclusively for this exhibition, are like wild glass flowers, or unruly curly hair. I’m often drawn to things we throw away, reject, belittle – like the shards you knock off when blowing glass. I thought that if those shards were heated and cut together, the result could be a minimalist anemone. It was shard-chaos, the genie was out of the bottle, like a graphic ball, wild and awesome.”

Anemone Gray, Orange and Velvet (unique): 32 000 kr.