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Arts & Communication Contemporary Portuguese glass art

shaped by the ruins. The ruin is in constant mutation as
the weathering effects of time perpetuate its change. The
material utilized is of most relevance to the ruins, where
its usage as a substance of memory is tantamount to
capturing the memory of the abandoned places through
material imagination. A poetic image of the space that
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once existed and now exists in another form, emerging
in consciousness as a product of the heart, of the soul.
The search for the dialectic of exterior and interior space
appears in the pieces through the dialog of the materials
used, as Gaston Bachelard said, “The space beckons action, Figure 9. Daniela Pinheiro, Subtrações Cromáticas: um processo de
and prior to action, the imagination labors.” 31,p.205 adição formal, 183 × 90 cm, 2017. Photo credit: Author.
Daniela Pinheiro, who is finishing her PhD and has
been serving as a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Porto
University, since 2023, has been working with abstract
geometry shapes since her Bachelor’s degree. In glass, she
uses the fusing technique to elaborate a geometric grid that
guides a chromatic construction through the layers overlay.
In 2017, under the supervision of Joana Silva, she completed
an internship at CENCAL in which she analyzed the color
possibilities of fusing glass. A piece of 183 cm in length
was made and is currently kept at the CENCAL facilities
(Figure 9). According to Daniela Pinheiro, the chromatic
blending in this piece is achieved through the overlaying
of transparent and translucent colored glass plates, which
served as the guiding principle in creating this piece. Red,
blue, yellow, and green merged into tones of green and Figure 10. Maria Palma, Up Through This River, variable dimensions,
installation placed at Santo Thyrso factory, 2021. Photo credit: Maria
dark blue. The affinity of colors was driven by an interplay Palma. Copyright © 2021 Maria Palma. Reprinted with permission of
of optical and procedural fusion. Transparency gave way Maria Palma.
to opacity and chromatic depth. Geometrically composed
of three elements, this piece evokes a sense of floating and set of pieces, made between 2012 and 2016, are attached to a
subjective transition among shapes, lines, and colors. In poultry netting, producing three-dimensional shape. From
her work, Daniela Pinheiro explores the concept of grid the union of colors and haute couture, works of art emerge
and repetition. with new language and concepts that “each piece results
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Maria Palma graduated in 2021 in Fine Art Sculpture. from a passionate moment and is regarded as unique.”
The same year, she presented the installation Up through The exhibition is about the texts that she wrote in which
this River (Figure 10) at Santo Thyrso factory. This work she presents Penelope’s reflections on how she lives with the
exposes the way women were treated and the conditions return of the hero (Ulysses). In her 2022 exhibition entitled
of their work contracts. According to Maria Palma (2021): Flower Power, the dimension of the pieces increases. Sol,
“This installation plays with the reflection and shadow 90 × 90 × 10 cm, is one example, which is exhibited on
of the chimney – of the penis. The reflection refers to a frame as a canvas; here, metal is not an integrated part
the condition of work (factory) equal in relation to man, of the piece (Figure 11), presenting a work with marks,
although always overshadowed (in shadow) by them. The history, and resistance to sadness through happiness and
lines of the chimney draw a lost, ironic erection, which flowers.
place the pieces of glass made by ‘slumping’ the vaginal Patrícia Oliveira works with different materials in
canal.” 32 her sculptures, combining tacit knowledge from the
Manuela Castro Martins is another artist who uses the craftspeople with the surrounding environment. In her
fusing technique combined with metal. Manuela develops latest work Pentefuso, 3 × 2.4 × 2.6 m, 2022 (Figure 12),
creative glass lace pieces, and some of her works are a public glass piece installation made by glassblowing
composed of small glass pieces, weaving glass threads that at Nelson Figueiredo studio, in Marinha Grande, at
resemble embroideries or filigree. In Waiting for Ulysses, a Cabeceiras de Bastos (Northern Portugal), relates to the

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 8 doi: 10.36922/ac.2777