Isabelle Scheltjens

The eye of the observer

Up close we view an abstract image, seemingly unfinished – a captivating combination of bright colours. When viewed at a distance, our eyes fuse the individual pieces of glass into one solid portrait. The time-consuming and laborious technique is the antithesis to the frantic pace of life in a ‘disposable’ society.

Glass, a contradictory material

Isabelle uses glass in a masterly way, as does her husband and glass artist/artisan Dirk Neefs. Isabelle’s technique arises from Dirk’s passion for glass, which inspired her to explore the versatile material as an artistic medium. Glass unites several contrasting properties – resisting and fragile, transparent and opaque, light and heavy – making it perfect for expressing the ambiguous relationship between distance and proximity.