Solange Roberdeau and Jochen Holz

December 11, 2021 – March 6, 2022

We're pleased to present the work of Solange Roberdeau and Jochen Holz at Blunk Space from December 11, 2021 – March 6, 2022. Solange and Jochen work across different mediums – drawing and glass – but share a penchant for spontaneity and experimentation. Both artists push the limits of their materials by incorporating and combining innovative processes and techniques. Additions of lusters and gilding, wood rubbings and textures, add depth and richness to their work.

For this exhibition, Solange produced three series of drawings using sumi and walnut ink, including a collection of pieces made at the JB Blunk house, which will be presented alongside handmade tableware and neon lights by Jochen. Working with ink, paint, paper, wood, fabric, and non-traditional gilding (applying metal leaf to a surface), Solange creates drawings that reflect the cadences of the natural world and her immediate surroundings. “My aim,” says Solange, “is for the drawings I’m making to communicate perceptual spaciousness, movement and a visual fluidness through material tensions, forms and contrasting mark-making.” Inspired by material processes and the spaces she inhabits, these works vacillate between serendipity and control, which is expressed through the combination of geometric and organic mark-making.

Jochen’s approach to design is guided by the lampworking process and the fluid potential of hot glass. Originally trained in lampworking in Germany he later studied glass at Edinburgh College of Art and The Royal College of Art in London. Jochen transforms prefabricated glass tubes into one-off glassware pieces. Glass is melted over a torch and gently blown, then shaped and fused together. He presses molten areas of the glass onto unusual surfaces such as perforated metal or wood, resulting in textured, undulating tableware and artworks. “Improvisation has an energetic quality, it’s not about anything other than its own energy and sensibility,” explains Jochen. “This approach of being physical and abstract, it’s a phycological space that you can inhabit. Sometimes something just happens in the process of making and I think, ah that’s nice, because you can’t imagine it before.”

Solange Roberdeau (b. 1982, Albion, CA) is an artist and freelance art educator who splits her time between Northern California and Taos, New Mexico. She received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD in 2012, and a BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including the Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM, and Can Serrat, El Bruc, Spain. She is represented by Municipal Bonds.

Jochen Holz (b. 1970, Kaiserslautern, Germany) is an award-winning contemporary glass artist producing one-off glassware and artworks. Jochen originally trained in lamp working in Germany before studying glass at Edinburgh College of Art and The Royal College of Art in London. Jochen established his studio in East London in 2003. His work is available from Momosan Shop (London, UK) and Future Perfect (San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles), and has been exhibited nationally and internationally including Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK, and THE SHOPHOUSE, Hong Kong.