Bruce Marks’s Earth Vessel stands upright and is a mysterious object that gives few clues to its origin. It reminds one of an ancient weather-beaten rock one may find in the desert that developed its markings, once upon a time, in water.
The protruding circles on its belly remind one of fossils — prehistoric ammonite molluscs perhaps. The fact that its creator sees it as a purely decorative piece, with limited function, adds to its allure. Marks told me on the phone from London, where he works at the Peter Layton Studio, that his Earth Vessels series consists of two shapes: some are flattened and pebble-like, others almost the shape of an African beer pot. The series, to date, comprises only six pieces, adding to the rarity.
Marks says that he creates glass markings by placing colour on the outside of the piece while it is hot. He applies different powders and chips to the vase that, one imagines, melt into the glass’s surface. It’s not a common process.
The vase will be on exhibition at Cape Town’s Edge Glass Gallery from May 30. It was opened by glass artist Nelius Britz in 2005 in response to the lack of a venue where the best of South African glass art could be viewed under one roof.
The impending exhibition is called African Light and from the title it is clear why Marks’s work is included.
Marks was born in Johannesburg but he spent many years in Durban. It was while working in the restaurant industry that he developed an interest in glass-blowing. Once he took a stroll through a Durban fleamarket, where he became intrigued by a man blowing lamps, and that’s when his life took a new direction.
He moved to London nine years ago and today is a full-time worker at the illustrious Layton studio. Mark’s own designs are manufactured in addition to his work on the Layton studio designs — and he says that the process is arduous. Each piece can take up to two-and-a-half hours to create.
But Marks is reaping rewards for his efforts. In 2009 alone he exhibited in Maastriccht, Chicago, Essex, New York, Cambridge and London.
Although he shows across the globe, Marks maintains that he derives the greatest meaning from the textures of Africa: “When I think of Africa, I think of dusty, cracked earth mixed with the odd burst of tropical foliage. When you go from Jo’burg to Durban, first it’s dry and there’s a flash of green — these are the colours I’m always trying to bring out in my work.”
The Edge Glass Gallery is at 29 Vredenburg Lane (off Long Street), Cape Town. Tel: 021 423 3370