Why did you decide to specialise in glass flowers?
I made my first glass flower in 2003: it was a pansy. Right from the start I realised that through my flowers I could express human feelings and emotions. I choose the flower depending on the mood I want to express.
What inspires your work?
Everything starts with emotions. Then of course I also turn to the works by Rudolph and Leopold Blaschka, who in 1890 created 4,400 plant models in glass for Harvard University. It’s an impressive work, impossible to match for the perfection of every detail.
Fred Merz © Michelangelo Foundation
When we look at your works, what do we see?
The tears I have cried throughout these years, trying to come to terms with a material that seems so hard to work with. The master glassmakers in Murano were right to warn me, but they were wrong in thinking that I would never succeed!
Will you ever get tired of flowers?
I don’t think so, because through flowers I can express my feelings. I try not to repeat myself, and to keep pushing myself one step further technically, for example by creating oversized flowers.