Antoon van Wijk is both painter and glass artist with expertise the lost-wax casting technique (pâte du verre), where glass is poured into a plaster cast mold. He adds oxides to achieve a variety of colourations. The advantage of the pâte du verre is that the artist can create the glass form he wants, in the same way a bronze figure is poured and cast. Van Wijk uses a gold leaf accent to the translucent material qualities to bring humorous ornamentation to the figurative glass motifs. He forms lively people and animal characters, sometimes with a wink to reality, but more often rich in fantasy and inspiration, and he is widely collected throughout Europe and other locations in the world.
Antoon creates very quirky, imaginative sculptures. They are playful and exuberant and often elicit a mild smile from the viewer. Antoon is known as a specific glass artist. Yet he also likes to work with bronze. In his works, he shows that, in addition to the techniques of glassblowing and bronze casting, he even mastered glass casting to perfection.
He knows how to combine several materials with different techniques, making very special and fascinating art sculptures. Antoon gets his inspiration during his travels through India and Indonesia. He is fascinated by the oriental religions and the palpable mystical atmospheres. The oriental influences are reflected in the use of the entire palette of colors and the special use of gold.
The shapes are also inspired by the East. He builds temples with animal figures. These animals have human features and emotions, leading to endearing scenes. Antoon combines Buddhist statues with elements of Western culture and Eastern mysticism. For Antoon life itself is like liquid glass. “Nothing is certain, life and glass can be shaped in different ways. Once cooled and solidified glass and human feelings are just as fragile.”
Antoon van Wijk (1952 Kortenhoef Nederland), schilder en glaskunstenaar creëert heel eigenzinnige, fantasierijke sculpturen. Antoon van Wijk heeft zijn opleiding gevolgd aan de Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, studierichting Monumentale Vormgeving. Na zijn verblijf in Engeland exposeert hij vanaf 1993 in Nederland. Antoon van Wik staat bekend als specifieke glaskunstenaar. Toch werkt hij ook graag met brons. In zijn werken laat hij zien dat hij naast de technieken van het glasblazen en het bronsgieten, oók die van glasgieten tot in de perfectie beheerst. Hij weet meerdere materialen met de verschillende technieken te combineren, waardoor zeer bijzondere en boeiende kunstobjecten ontstaan. Voor glas heeft hij heeft gekozen voor de giettechniek, waarbij oxides worden toegevoegd om het glas door en door te kleuren.
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