OPEN 7 DAYS
9:30am - 4:00pm
38 Maple Street, Maleny
07 5499 9311
Marc Kalifa
Digital and Glass Artist
Glass artist, Marc Kalifa was born in Paris, France in 1951 and migrated to Australia in 1974. He started working with glass designing and making large stained-glass windows, wishing that one day he would be able to make his own coloured glass. A visit to several hot glass studios in Europe motivated him to build a home studio in Maleny, Queensland in 1985.
Marc will tell you that glass is a versatile medium; he has spent the last 30 years experimenting with the endless possibilities offered by blown and cast glass. Marc's blown glassworks are strongly influenced by the Australian environment and its ancient indigenous culture. His sand cast works allow him to use contrasting textures, exposed against the translucence and refracting qualities of glass.
Marc mixes various mediums and techniques, and his work goes from limited edition blown glass pieces to one-off sand-cast sculptural lamps as well as multi-media sculptures including glass, bronze, ceramic or gilded wood components.
Marc has said that "Making glass for me is an alchemical process, where I need to apply my understanding of the fire and the way it transmutes basic raw opaque materials into a translucent medium. Once this fluid medium is born, the concern with colour begins. In this context, imagery
and colour consideration are somewhat more important than the form on which it is applied. More recently, my search for appropriate form has led me back to casting metal methods, as well as experimenting with wood and the combination of these shapes along with colour has stimulated my investigation of multi-medium sculpture."
Until recently Mark worked exclusively in the three-dimensional realm. His digital artwork is a new development. The designs for Marc’s cards and prints are mostly made from photos of his blown glass and sculptural pieces made over the last 30 years, as well as flowers from his garden, and found objects etc. Marc digitally combine these various elements into new ideas. Each design is made of many layers. Each layer is individually adjusted, using colours and textured variations, brushes, and other effects. Marc said that he is enjoying the flexibility of the digital process and looking forward to discovering the endless possibilities the digital medium offers.