The glass series “Spaces of Taiwan” by HAWK graduate Dagmar Gerke
Dagmar Gerke is one of the many new talents supported by the Harzkristall glass factory and the Gerhard Bürger Foundation. She studied at the University of Applied Science and Art (HAWK) in Hildesheim from 2015 to 2022 and implemented numerous joint projects in the glass factory during her studies. After completing her bachelor's degree in product design, she is currently working on her master's thesis
At HAWK she specialized in glass design and learned the technical techniques of glassmaking. She looks for new uses for this ancient material, using it as a means of artistic expression as well as for everyday use. Dagmar Gerke's works impress with their aesthetics and quality craftsmanship. Her series “Interlude - Glass on the Human Body,” for example, consists of glass bodies that oscillate between fine and applied art and explore the boundaries between jewelry art and objects. Defined as a decorative object, Gerke's glass bodies can literally be “worn”.
Sometimes individual objects tell entire stories. She used a series of bowls and cylinders to address the encounter between different cultures. Like her project, “Spaces of Taiwan,” which she produced in the Harzkristall glass factory and which sees itself as a materialized memory. It refers to six different places in Taiwan that particularly moved Gerke during a trip in 2018. Her mouth-blown objects are created in shapes made of bamboo and miscanthus. The colors are also based on Asian models. As free artistic objects, these works invite association, but can also be used. Because eating always means communication and cultures come together when we eat together. She has already received two important prizes this year, the Hessian State Prize and a Bavarian State Prize.
The aforementioned work “Spaces of Taiwan” received a particularly great response, and the design language as well as the overall concept of the “Sicao Green Tunnel” glass vessels, which represent an excerpt from the 33-part series, convinced the jury of the Hessian State Prize. This was shortly followed by the Bavarian State Prize, which Dagmar Gerke was awarded by the Bavarian State Government as part of the International Craft Fair (IHM) and the “Future of Crafts” event. After successful selection in the young talent section “Talents – Masters of the Future” at the IHM, to which Dagmar Gerke applied in advance, the jury of the Bavarian State Prizes was able to view the entire “Spaces of Taiwan” series and selected it for one of the renowned awards .
