Incollect Magazine - Issue 8

Incollect Magazine 43 ‘Amore’ set of two hand-engraved lilac glass coffee tables are exactly opposite boomerang shapes, but different heights for creative positioning — nested, barely overlapping, or wholly apart. Composed of puzzle-pieced glass sections, each one embellished with geometric sunburst engraving on the underside to create luminous reflections. The polished brass structure adds a warm glow. Available through Incollect.com and The Gallery at 200 Lex in the New York Design Center. And what about you, Martina? Domenico and I are partners of the Ghiró company. I’ve also been involved in the business now for a few years. My brother Domenico mainly deals with the creative part, glass design and processing, while I deal more with the commercial part, sales and customer relations. I like to participate in the creative part, proposing ideas and helping my brother in every phase of work. Our father is retired now but he is always present in the studio. Where do you get your glass? Our creations are made from two kinds of materials: blocks or rocks of glass taken from glass- making factories, the cooled slag glass that is left over in factory kilns, as well as old and new slabs of plate or sheet glass. Nowadays glass blocks are difficult to find, in fact, the ones we use come from our private collection we have accumulated over the years. As for sheet glass, we purchase it directly from the manufacturers but are always on the lookout for slabs of thicknesses and colors that are not available or produced nowadays. How do you work the glass? To be clear, we do not blow glass and we do not work with molten glass. We sometimes use ovens to shape glass at high temperatures. Very often we create our own molds to give the glass the shape we desire in the oven. The block glass is just endlessly ground and polished to get the forms we want. Our objects are achieved by shaping, carving, polishing, and grinding. Tell us about the process of design. How do you begin designing an object? It all starts with an idea, which is then put into practice through drawings and prototypes, after which we move on to the choice of materials, the study of finishes, the most suitable manufacturing techniques, and in-depth studies of functionality. We try and try again, gradually continuing to modify until we arrive at the final result. For example, our “Undulate” wavy mirror was created thanks to multiple attempts at cooking and bending the glass until exactly the right curvature was obtained. Although we all have defined roles, our process is based on teamwork in all phases. What about your biomorphic sculptural forms? Some of our works are made completely differently, yes, that’s correct — there is no planning there. To create sculpture we work directly and instinctively on a rough block of glass, letting ourselves be carried away by the material and creativity and working in the moment. Domenico says during the creation process: “Until an object speaks to me it is not finished”. This is to say that an object is not finished if, when you look at it, it does not convey something to you.