With glass in his heart. Celebrating Jiří Šuhájek

Although he graduated in glass engineering from a Czech secondary school and university, he first “blew” into a blowpipe at the Royal College of Art in London. In his own words, it was only there that he understood what it meant to work in a glassworks. This encounter with the craft influenced him forever. From then onwards, the lines blurred between design and creation. Jiří both designs and builds his creations, including everything from small collector’s vases to giant plastic sculptures in exclusive hotels.

A journey with Moser

Jiří Šuhájek first encountered Moser right out of secondary school. He worked here as a painter but felt inspired to continue studying. And so he graduated from UMPRUM under Stanislav Libenský, before transferring to London’s Royal College of Art. Once he returned, he spent seven years realising his artistic vision as a lead designer at Moser, creating an array of extraordinary collections along the way. “The Moser glassworks always has and will take first place for me. It’s a space with its own particularities. Like its colourfullness or cutting and painting technology. And that’s something I enjoy,” revealed Jiří Šuhájek.

 

Words from the glassmaker and designer

Younger generations of glassmakers and designers are inspired by his original approach to shapes and colours. He often draws from nature in his creations, which is quite evident in his Moser collections with motifs of the four elements and four seasons. “For each glassmaker, working with the blowpipe and molten glass is akin to speaking their own language,” said Jiří Šuhájek in the television documentary Fragility Born by Fire.

Šuhájek enjoys finding new combinations of shades, something you can try out as well on his vase Spheres in the configurator MyMoser. Here, anyone can choose the colour of the glass and the size of the individual components. Our glassmakers will then create your unique piece, with no one else being allowed to use the same combination.

A glassmaking globetrotter

There are few places on earth where Jiří Šuhájek hasn’t been. His works are represented in museums and galleries across the continents. “The exhibition space allows me to see a creation outside the studio. This provides some needed distance. Plus, it’s here that the works influence each other; one is reflected in the other, they communicate together,” describes the artist.

Jiří Šuhájek has received numerous international awards for his work. As a lecturer, he’s most active in the US, although many of his students come from all over Europe.

Glass in paintings

Jiří Šuhájek also didn’t hesitate to step outside the sphere of molten glass and become a painter on canvas. But even here he couldn’t deny his glassmaker’s spirit. For instance, gold leaf found its way into some of his pieces – a material often used by Moser designers. His “professional deformation” manifested itself even more prominently in the form of glass lenses and rods, which he inserted directly into his paintings.

This year, Jiří Šuhájek celebrated his 80th birthday. Wherever his life and artistic journeys may lead him, at Moser, we’ll always be proud that his iconic works were created here in our very glassworks.