Glass music by Julia Protkova. TEXT of the Exhibition. Part II. 13-33.

EXHIBITION Glass music by Julia Protkova

TEXT Part I

13. Cities from Nuremberg Chronicles 1493

In front of you is a series of cities from one of the first books printed in Europe - the Nuremberg Chronicles of 1493. This is a stunningly beautiful book with a large number of illustrations that are waiting to be made in glass. The work was done by placing glass powder particles with the help of a needle. Each work of this size takes about 70 hours to make. I love to replicate my work. I use different shades of glass and it gives different musical effects. Sometimes, it seems to me that I hear every particle of glass powder in my works.

14. Series My Van Gogh.

My Van Gogh series is the result of my admiration for Van Gogh's work. There are already five works in my collection. Van Gogh is not just an idol for me. He is believed to have had bipolar disorder, and in being bipolar myself, I feel more attuned to him. The leftmost work is called Irises. Inspired by Van Gogh. I call it the Bipolar Disorder Study. I worked on it for seven months, once a week. The year was 2018. It was the fourth year of my worst depression. At that time, I only had the strength enough for one day of glasswork. When working on this piece, I suddenly started to have glassy thoughts. I haven't had any in four years. It was incredible. I could think of glass again. And I began to come to life. I began to have strength again. The end of Irises marks the end of my depression.

Irises 2022 and Starry Night are made using my relatively new technique, which I have just begun to explore. This material is a glass medium-sized frit. Pay attention to the shimmering effect of the Irises.

Van Gogh's work Road with Cypress in my interpretation is called the Pilgrim's Road. This work is about me, I am the pilgrim who goes home and tries to tell people about how beautiful our Universe is. I love the Road but my home means a lot to me too. I am on my way.

Van Gogh's The Courtesan is based on a painting by the Japanese artist Eisen. In my interpretation, she is called a Geisha, I changed the color of the kimono and added a few creative touches. It is known that Van Gogh was a fan of Japanese art and I share this passion.

15. Series My sailing ships

I am in love with sailing ships. I am enamoured by their shape and form and mesmerized by their beauty. The stained-glass project Scarlet Sails was made in 2004 and has a secondary name of Faith Through the Storm. This is one of my very first stained glass works. The Sky, sun and sea are cut from the same piece of glass. In 2019, I decided to repeat the same design. This work is called Flying Ship, it flies from the night to the sun. Made under the direction of Rock Laplante. I asked permission to put Rock's name on this work and he didn't mind.

And there is another sailing ship made in powdered glass. This is Admiral Nelson's flagship.

The series of sailing ships will definitely be continued.

16. Bouquet (2010)

This work is called Bouquet. It was created in 2010. This is one of my first fusing experiences. The work was created from a drawing by Marc Chagall.

17. Geisha and giraffe (2013)

Geisha and giraffe work is my reflection on human perception and thinking. If I put a miniature geisha and the tallest animal in the world in the same picture, and make the geisha taller than the giraffe, what do you imagine? A giant geisha or a baby giraffe?

18. Leo (2010)

Mosaic Leo was made in 2011 and is my very first mosaic. For me, this is a very important project. I tried to create a portrait-like image of a particular person, in this case it was my teacher in postgraduate school. He means a lot to me. I owe him my development as a person. He opened the Arctic and the World for me. His name was Leo. I placed a medieval Leo (lion) in a very intricate environment. You see a space that is very complex in color and dynamics. Leo has the incredible fortitude and charisma to get through this enclosed space. You can see the portals opening.

19. Alien Cat (2021)

If in the previous mosaic my hero was a medieval lion who suddenly appeared in an ultra-modern space, then the Alien Cat is my vision of an otherworldly self. Let me read to you what I wrote on this work. This work is called Alien Cat (Attempt #3). This is a re-creation in glass of self-portrait by Yayoi Kusama (2009) that uses a different color scheme. Yayoi Kusama is my role model, my guiding star and my inspiration. I admire her talent and her passionate dedication towards art. This work is a tribute to her. This is my third attempt to re-create this Cat. I hope for success. Glass work and technique by Julia Protkova. 2021.

20. My Escher

Maurice Cornelius Escher is a person I greatly admire. To date, I have created four recreations of Eschers - two in powder and two in stained glass.

The Fish Fantasy on your left is a glass reproduction I created in 2021 of an Escher work called Fish and Scales which is a black and white woodcut. In my work, I introduced color. Recreating Escher's work in glass is a complex process. It takes almost a hundred hours to complete a 25 x 25 cm piece. But, it's very interesting.

The most recent work - completed in October 2022 - is called Chameleon Love. Again, this is a recreation of the woodcut titled Stars. In my work, the main premise is set on the Chameleons, while the stars are just decorations for my thoughts. Let me read to you what I wrote at work.

This work is called Chameleon Love. This is a re-creation in glass of the woodcut Stars by M. C. Escher (October 1948). I changed the color scheme of the work in order to highlight my idea. For me, this work is about the Love of two beings who are close in spirit and who are able to adapt to each other's characteristics in such a way that they are able to coexist in a narrow space. Glass work and technique by Julia Protkova. 2022.

21. Divine Creations

The next three works are my thoughts on God and his divine creations. The Mosaic Broken Infinity - these are my thoughts on the fragility of human civilizations, the change of Gods. This work was planned for several years as I collected shades of blue glass for it. Once upon a time superhumans lived. They could fly and communicate with their thoughts. They were given the Higher Knowledge. And suddenly, in an instant, their civilization collapsed. A new civilization came to replace it, with new gods. But the Higher knowledge was lost. Numerous fragments remained, but no one has yet been able to read them.

The work Six Days of Creation is a glass recreation of a picture from a 12th-century German manuscript. I created this work in six days. Every day, I made only one circle - one day of Creation. It was a very interesting creation experience. This work is the beginning of my series of works on the Creation of the World. I am extremely interested in this topic.

The work Insight on Love will show you a picture recreated in glass from the Spanish manuscript of Beatus. I am in love with medieval manuscripts in general, and Beatus in particular. I dream of creating a whole series of works based on Beatus. In front of you, you see Adam and Eve. They didn't just sin but have also known love. I think this is a very interesting angle.

22. Musical Improvisations (2004)

In front of you is a musical wall. These are the works in which I tried to embody specific music or write my own. The first three stained glass works are called Musical Improvisations and were made in 2004. This is my very first experience of transmitting music into glass. I used my sister's design to create these stained glass works, but the glass that I chose was inspired by my favorite music. The first stained glass piece is called The Winter's Tale and it's a waltz from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. The second work is Jazz, inspired by the song Summertime performed by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. And finally, the third stained-glass piece is called Tango - this is sensual-passion music.

23. Musician (Glenn Gould). (2014)

This work is called The Musician. This is a silhouette portrait of Glenn Gould, the famous Canadian pianist. I’m in love with his performances. His performances of Bach and Beethoven's sonatas have been playing in my glass shop for years. I listen to his music over and over again. At the time when I was working on this portrait, I was listening to Beethoven's sonatas that were performed by Glenn Gould. Thus, the color of the work is my vision of Beethoven at that time. There is no piano here. There is a Musician sitting in his favorite chair making magical music.

24. My own music and dance (2021-2022)

In front of you are three works - these are my own music and my own dance. The first work was done with glass powder. It is called Symphony number one and there are about 80 color shades and melodies of glass. This is my first attempt at composing fused glass music in 2021. This is the very beginning of my many works of my own music. This is how I see and hear. The next work is called My Caprice, created in 2022. It suddenly occurred to me to create it and I put aside all other projects to work on this. The next work is called Flamenco by Julia Protkova. I am the one dancing the flamenco. Inspired by a recent trip to Spain and Andalusia which I have dreamed about visiting for fifteen years. This work is the reflection inspired from my amazing trip. If you look closely, I have a red spot instead of my face. It means that I am tired, out-of-breath and flushed from the dance. This is the work of 2022.

25. Takeoff. (2021)

Takeoff was created in 2021, almost immediately after my father passed away. I lost a Teacher and someone I was spiritually close to. This is sorrowful music. The whole work is deeply symbolic. Each color represents my father's main hobbies - a philosopher, a professor and an avid fisherman. You can see the Globe slowly rising up from the surface. This is the ascension of the Soul.

26. My Bestiary (November 2012)

I have already shown you a lot of works made by me from glass powder. I've been trying to tame powder for four years and I wasn’t happy with the results. You can see here my very first works in my own technique of drawing with glass powder, created in November 2012. This is my medieval zoo. I love medieval manuscripts in general and bestiaries in particular. This is an endless series. I timed the opening of my exhibition to the day of November 15, on this day ten years ago the first ten works were fused and it was a success for me. I love my bestiary very much.

27. My Grotesques (2013-2014)

Here is another endless series - Grotesques. These are also recreations of pictures of medieval manuscripts. I am fascinated by these medieval drawings. These are examples of unbridled fantasy. These works span 2013-2014.

28. My Tigers

The leftmost tiger is called the Beast. This was my very first fusing experience back in 2008. It is based on a calligraphic drawing by the Sudanese artist Hassan Musa. I love my Beast. The other two tigers were made in 2013 and 2021. This is my recreation in glass of the same photograph of a tiger. I was interested to see how I grew. Both works are made with glass powder.

29. Eyes (2014) and Eyes of depression (2022)

The project called Eyes is two plates made in 2014 that are based on a drawing by Daniel Hopfer from 1515. I made my own color interpretation. I didn't know back then that I was bipolar. In 2022, I repeated the same design and called it Eyes of Depression. I will read to you what is written on the work. This work is called Eyes of Depression. This is a re-creation in glass of the grotesque by Daniel Hopfer, created around 1515-1520. I changed the color scheme of the original. This work is meant to remember the darkest period of my life - four years of endless depression. I did not know how to live my life after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I lost myself. I became afraid of people. I had to re-learn how to live. Glass work and technique by bipolar artist Julia Protkova. 2022.

30. Works created in manic state (end of 2014)

Here are two works that were created in a feverish manic state a month before my hospitalization at the mental hospital. I already understood that something was wrong with me and these works are a reflection of those days. The first is called Samurai Girl and Sunflower. The samurai girl is a drawing of my sister, given to me with the written words, “My sister is a warrior”. That is, I, a samurai girl, barely able to keep my balance on the falling sunflower petals. And the second work is called The Burning of the Library of Alexandria. You see me, an owl, crying over the loss for humanity. This was my state-of-mind during those days.

31. Owl (2021) and Thousand Flowers (2013)

Here is another Owl, created in 2021. The next work is called Thousand Flowers and is a very fine recreation of the famous tapestry from the Lady with the Unicorn series. It was created in 2013 after long hours of work.

32. Great Magicians

These three projects come from different source material but are united under my series, Great Magicians. Prophet Elijah is the recreation of the XVII century Greek icon. The image of Hermes Trismegistus is taken from an alchemy book (1624) and the image of Merlin is my interpretation from the Disney film animation Sword in the Stone.

33. Angel with golden hair (2013), plates Star (2020) and Galaxy (2020)

Angel with golden hair is a recreation in glass of the XII century icon that bears the same name. On the right you see a pair of decorative plates called Star and Galaxy. This concludes the second part of the exhibition.

TEXT Part III