BLOWN AWAY
The path to craft can vary. Sometimes it’s inherited over generations; sometimes it’s ignited by a chance encounter with a master craftsperson. For artist Fredrik Nielsen, it was sparked by the 1985 Swedish coming-of-age film My Life as a Dog.
It follows Ingemar, the troubled young protagonist, who is sent away from his dying mother to live with his aunt and uncle in Småland province, home to Glasriket (‘the Kingdom of Crystal’), Sweden’s glass-making capital. ‘It’s a really cute movie,’ says Nielsen. ‘Life is very simple; the guys are working in the hot shop, the wives are packing the glass. This little boy’s mother is sick, then passes away, so he comes down to this glass kingdom, where the fire is warm and secure. That film made me think about glass.’
But unlike the centuries-old Orrefors and Kosta Boda glassworks in Glasriket, Nielsen is
