Vladimir Kopecký

For me, glass is not the subject of my expression. It is merely a means for attaining obscure ends. . . I do not glorify glass. It may be worked with in various ways, even counter to the commonly held conception of it, Le., glass may be treated in a manner that is "ugly." I myself coined the term "ugly glass" at the beginning of the 1960s. But I do not think that glass must be always so. I would only like to say that if I am pursuing an expressive idea, and not decoration, then I will even ruthlessly rip the skin off the glass, until it bleeds if necessary.

What concerns me is that the completed glass work conveys a deeper meaning to the observer than just making a statement about the properties of the material, for though this material is unique, it only rarely occurs to me to employ it. In my work, which is both geometrically precise and spontaneously expressive, there is an effort to give voice to everything that fascinates me: the infinitude of space, silence, anxiety, and melancholy.

I am convinced that true art grows out of a tragic sense of life, even though it may be concealed by an exuberant gaiety. The example of Samuel Beckett, his plays, where the spectator laughs while at the same time staring at the action, which, in fact, chillingly offers no escape. My efforts are driven by the motifs of sadness, scepticism, bewilderment, despair. At times I have great doubts about matters of style, continuity. All of it for me is just an impediment. a pattern that binds me. I don ’t know art should cast off the appearance of art.

To be beyond rules. Who am I? What am I? Anxiety – Avidity!

Vladimir Kopecky, February 1999
Statement in exhibition catalogue,
Vladimir Kopecky