ELVIRA SCHUARTZ

Eclectic Formation

Previously Elvira Schuartz had studied Psychology, Business Administration and Plastic Arts. Elvira received her first taste of Glass Arts when fixing an antique night lamp in 1989. Soon after, Elvira began creating in glass and as a result became passionate for this eternal material. Then -as a natural progression- she abandoned her furniture and interior design profession and devoted herself to the design and creation of glass artefacts. In time, Elvira honed her skills and developed new techniques.

To Elvira, glass was just a transparent material that could be transformed into different shapes that enhance its contour glass is not just a transparent material but a medium that could be transformed into shapes that enhance its properties. When she named her gallery ESPAÇO ZERO (ZERO SPACE) she expressed “Glass is almost nothing, only form and light”. Colour came later.

After having designed and produced her decorative objects for some time, she was asked to share her vision and creativity by teaching. Elvira then organised a course inviting other professionals to also give classes.

Having brought new attention to glass art, a well known newspaper suggested that she should on the subject. It was thus that she began her voyage of discovery into the history of glass and its literature. Her books are entitled “Artesan Glass Making Manual” and "Através do Vidro".

Elvira Schuartz has taken part in twenty exhibitions in Brazil (individual and in groups) and has displayed her work twice in the famous gallery of R. Picasso in New York. In 1995, a Museum in Luxembourg gave her a prize for one of her glass masterpieces and in 1999, she was invited to display her sculptures (artefacts) in the Galeria Eclat du Verre, Louvre des Antiquaires, Paris.

Today Elvira Schuartz is one of the few scholars of glass design and making in Latin America. She is in permanent contact with galleries and art centres in Europe and the United States with whom she is continually promoting interchanges of ideas and techniques. Elvira is a great promoter of international and national expositions of modern art.

Nowadays, Elvira´s gallery and workshop is a centre of research and experimentation for many students and lovers of glass art in Brazil.