Marian Volráb: Darkness in Glass - Light in Paintings

Volráb‘s artistic journey was predestined by the fact that he was born into a family of glassmaking artists. Between 1978 and 1982, he studied glass engraving at The Hight School of Applied Art for Glassmaking in Kamenický Šenov under the supervision of Josef Kochrda, and subsequently at the Prague-based Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in the classes of Professor Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslav Svoboda (1982-1988). Immediately after graduation he became assistant to Professor Vladimír Kopecký at the same school. The countless works mapping his career can be found since the early 1990s in the collections of museums worldwide, galleries of modern art, or in public spaces. Volráb belongs to the generation of middle-aged Czech glassmaking artists. He is a member of the Rubicon art group, uniting Czech glassmaking artists having original and distinctive artistic style.

Since the early 1980s, Volráb has been interested in sculpture. Using melted glass as the basic material, he utilizes the techniques of engraving and etching with the help rough carborundum discs of different grain size, which allows him to have control over the intensity of the cut by applying varying pressure. As the author himself points out, "My ideas often materialize in specific shapes when the grindstone touches the surface of the glass. Sometimes the glass reacts utterly unexpectedly and original intent needs to be changed."
Among the characteristic features of his works is the suppressing, concealing of the properties of the amorphous material and exploring of the possibilities offered by the selected media - clean polished surfaces are absent, replaced by impressive contrasts of surfaces and details, roughness, resistance to tools raw removal of raw material by grinding and engraving. In their form and expression, Volráb‘s sculptures and relief-engraved pieces go beyond the basic characteristics of glass as a material; although the sculptures are seemingly static and calm, inside they feature dynamic processes that disrupt the harmony of the pure material.
The intensity of Volráb’s work creates another spatial dimension, which we perceive when looking at his highly detailed sculptures. In these works, we can see his own authentic view and artistic expression, they convey his perception of the outside world through the meaning expressed in the glass. Volráb‘s creative journey does not touch the area of studio glass art only, but in parallel also touches painting, in which colour – similarly to his glass work – is used as a tool of plastic expression by means of creating differing structures. In his works, he gives himself away completely and we can feel his focus and personal experience. His paintings are full of captured light and sensitivity.
No matter which medium he uses, Volráb thematically utilizes similar elements, which can also be seen in the Zlín exhibition – he is constantly interested in capturing a limp figure, trapped, alone, which can be seen in his sculpture Melancholy (2014) or in his major work Escape (2014). A human figure in everyday hurry in Haste (2015) or calming down in Halt (2015). We observe expressions of intimate experiences, feelings and relationships of an individual (Close Being I - V, 2012), as well as the coming to the fore of a human being, deformed in different positions or hiding, trapped in its thoughts and inner landscapes - Profile (2015), Face (2014).

Miroslava Kupčíková