Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Paul Schwieder speaks of the “grand sweeping gestures” and “vast subtle movement” of the Canadian prairie as an influence upon his molten glass forms. Currently living in Umeå, Sweden, he studied at the Orrefors Glass School in Sweden as well as at the University of West Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
His creative breakthrough came when he began sculpting blown glass with a sandblaster, which gave him the ability to augment or diminish elements of the originally conceived form. Through this process, Schwieder works within the contradictions inherent in the medium, which he defines as “strength, fragility, transparency, opacity, fluidity, and stasis.” His hypnotic, richly colored abstract forms are simultaneously forceful and serene, situated by the artist within the feminine and nature.
His works are included in major collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, and the Corning Museum of Glass. Schwieder has taught at the Le Centre Des Métiers du Verre du Québec.
Website of Paul Schwieder