Verre églomisé is a technique dating back to pre-Roman times, used to paint and gild the rear face of glass to produce a mirror finish. It was revived in France during the 18th century. Barbara’s intention is to bring Baroque opulence into the 21st century by combining this technique with contemporary minimalistic design. This piece was hand-blown and formed, sandblasted and gilded, the matt yellow exterior intensifying the extravagance of the golden interior.

13 cm
30 cm
23 cm

Inspired by Claude Monet’s water lilies and the kimono designs of Itchiku Kubota, Barbara created a still life of shapes, shadows and colours. Tack-fusing cut sections of glass canes of varying patterns, colours and thickness, then encasing them in clear glass, she hand-blows the resulting sheet to create an irregular interplay of patterns spreading over the surface like blobs of oil on water.

17 cm
28 cm
27 cm

Inspired by Claude Monet’s water lilies and the kimono designs of Itchiku Kubota, Barbara created a still life of shapes, shadows and colours. Tack-fusing cut sections of glass canes of varying patterns, colours and thickness, then encasing them in clear glass, she hand-blows the resulting sheet to create an irregular interplay of patterns spreading over the surface like blobs of oil on water.

22 cm
35 cm
28 cm

The inspiration for this unglazed sculpture came to Barbara during a study trip to Cappadocia in Turkey, a bleak landscape of soft eroded rocks and cliffs riddled with troglodyte dwellings. Its monochrome quality appealed to her, and she interpreted this captured emotion into a series of sandy spiral ceramic vessels.

Barbara’s work on the Galaxy series, started in the 1990s, marked a clear breakthrough in her designs. Rather than using engobes and glazes she turned to paint and pigments, cold finishes on cold materials. Distancing herself from the kiln, she did the unthinkable, assembling hand-thrown pieces of stoneware with epoxy resin.