Through her abstract solid glass sculptures, Heike Brachlow focuses on the exploration of transparent colour. Allusion is made using opaline glass with a soapy, translucent appearance. Opaline colours look like clear glass when they are put into the kiln, then develop during the firing process through exact control of the temperature profile. The longer it is fired at a specific temperature, the more opaque it becomes.

Height 31 cm
Width 33.5 cm
Diameter 22 cm

In this substantial glass sculpture, the colour fades from a rich, saturated turquoise in the more solid parts to almost clear along the edges; the polished surface lets the light in, to be captured and diffused by the hand-sanded silky matt surfaces. Analemma won the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers Arts and Crafts Award in 2017. All Heike’s works are signed and dated.

Height 31 cm
Width 57 cm
Diameter 33 cm

Heike Brachlow aims to make forms capable of transformation, ideally in several ways. Her works can change depending on the viewing angle, when set into motion, and with changing light conditions. Nearly all of Heike’s glass sculptures are capable of movement rather than sitting on a flat base. In fact, there is no base at all, so the objects can be displayed in different orientations. This image of Apophasis is an attempt to capture some idea of this, although the movement appears slower in reality.

Height 30 cm
Width 31 cm
Diameter 27 cm

Heike Brachlow’s glass sculptures are based on a concept called D-form, where a three-dimensional form is created by joining the edges of two flat shapes with the same perimeter length. Results are wildly different depending on the point at which the shapes are joined. The subtle shades of pink in this work make it seem almost alive, as it captures and diffuses light through its matt, hand finished surfaces. Limen was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2020.

Height 34.5 cm
Width 35 cm
Diameter 32 cm

Over the past years Heike Brachlow’s glass sculptural forms have changed slowly, elongating, thinning, seeking to achieve a colour fade from saturated, in the more solid parts, to almost clear along the edges. In this work, two shades of turquoise were mixed during the casting process, resulting in a near-homogenous colour with subtle swirls.

Height 29 cm
Width 44.5 cm
Diameter 35.5 cm