Sabine Snykers

"I focus on creating fine, handcrafted objects that express energy and beauty while expanding the boundaries of the medium of glass."

Glass artist Sabine Snykers creates art glass that is about optimism, passion, and joie de vivre. Inspired by music, geometry, nature, and the visual effects of light reflection and transmission, Snykers layers intensely colored glass into centered compositions. Her style of work is modern and often reminds viewers of imaginary landscapes.

Snykers works with a technique called kiln-worked or fused glass. It is comparable to inlaid mosaics, but instead of cement or glue, the pieces of glass are permanently bonded by the heat of a furnace. Sometimes, more than one hundred individual pieces of cut, ground, and polished glass go into a single object. Each piece may go through as many as five separate kiln firings. With each subsequent firing, more layers and details are added. Often, 23k gold is fired onto the glass, and pieces may be engraved with a diamond stylus. The glass is shaped during the last firing. The edges of the work are perfected by sanding and polishing.

Sabine Snykers has been working in glass since 1980. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the National Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. Her background is in painting and glass, focusing on creating harmony with interior spaces. Snykers came to the United States in 1989 and started her glass studio.

READ MORE
Selected Exhibitions & Awards
Contemporary Crafts market, Convention Center, Pasadena, CA, 2019
The Beverly Hills Art Show, Beverly Gardens Park, Beverly Hills, CA, 2019
Opel Prize, General Motors, Antwerp, Belgium, 1986
Niche Awards, Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA, 1992, 1995, 1996
Palmetto Hands Fine Craft Exhibition and Competition, Convention Center, Charleston, SC, 2008
Collections
Santa's Workshop, Blue Room of The White House, Washington D.C., 1997