At what point did you open your own workshop?
Towards the end of my second apprenticeship I started my own studio, although while working in those previous workshops I had had many occasions to work on my own stuff. From Monday to Friday I worked for them and on weekends I worked on my own stuff.
How did you evolve your particular way of working?
I’ve always contaminated glass with foreign matter, to challenge the material. I try to forget the physical laws in glassmaking, and then something new might appear. At some point I started to combine glass with sand, olivine, metals and pumice, which are not easily compatible, but what appeared was intriguing.
© Ole Akhøj
Do you remember the first object you made?
I remember the first object in blown glass that I was satisfied with. It was just a plain hemisphere with orange murrine. It was nothing special at all, and it had nothing to do with my actual work, I just wanted to achieve that particular form and it took a couple of years.
What inspires your work?
The questions I ask my materials and the answers they give, or the questions they ask me. I almost see materials as my working partner. I wake up and they are waiting for me, suggesting things, and I am responding. You must be able to see the gifts that you are given from the material.