Inspired by natural forms and organic structures, Michèle Oberdieck explores balance and asymmetry through shape, surface and colour. Using sculptural forms as a gesture, or expressive mark, often combining a few pieces together, a narrative is created.
She is drawn to biomorphic shapes found in plant growth and decay, such as the delicate forms tulip petals take on this journey. These beautiful twisted organic shapes reveal the motion of aging stopped in its tracks. It is this transformation that she aims to capture in glass. The expressive twists and turns away from symmetry create a fluidity, showing movement in the piece. Colour has always played an important role in Oberdieck’s work, from her past practice printmaking, and textiles, to glass which allows her a unique way to express the delicacies of colour and its interaction with light.
Born in Canada, Michèle Oberdieck has lived in Britain for nearly two decades, training as a textile designer at Glasgow School of Art, where she fell in love with the architecture of Charles Rennie Macintosh, particularly the stained-glass windows .
Plant life and flowers have always been an inspiration which is reflected in her screen- printed textile work. Her background in hand printing and dying silks has influenced her colour sense when she first approached blown glass while embarking on an MA at the Royal College of Art in the Ceramic and Glass Department. She is represented by several galleries in the UK and her work is sold across the USA, Japan, South Korea , Italy and Britain.
