By Laura Goldstein
It’s not just an Oscar that the top 25 Nominees at this year’s 92nd Academy Awards may be displaying in their living rooms. Vancouver glass designer, Jaan Andres created his luminous one-of-a-kind Supernatural Bowls, for the coveted swag bags delivered to the stars prior to the Academy Awards Ceremony February 9th.
“Presented with the opportunity to take part, we thought a limited edition glass art piece by Jaan would make an unusual gift for the celebrities, many of whom are art collectors,” explains Renee Switzer, founder and partner of luxury furniture and accessories showroom, SwitzerCultCreative in Vancouver. “Jaan had recently had a successful Exhibition, Timelines, of his sculptural glass here and we agreed to sponsor the production for this very prestigious occasion.”
Although the ‘swag bag’ is highly anticipated because it’s a treasure trove of jewelry, products and even vouchers for fabulous trips for the top Oscar nominees, works of art are more unusual and (hopefully) catch the eye of each celebrity recipient.
“Swag bag is a bit of a misnomer,” says Grace Lanuza of Brand Apiary who submitted Andres’ bowl design to a committee that oversees all the competitive brands vying for inclusion. It’s more like a gigantic basket or suitcase that’s hand -delivered to celebrity nominees’ homes. Out-of-town nominees will receive Jaan’s piece at their hotel rooms prior to February 9th.
“I’m trying to stay chill about it all,” laughs Andres who, when not working on his own collections, blows glass for Omer Arbel’s lighting company, Bocci and teaches classes at Vancouver’s Terminal City Glass, in Vancouver where the Supernatural Bowls were created.
“I had only 10 days to blow 40 pieces (I made extras to make sure we picked the perfect ones,) working night and day on the grinding and polishing which is really time consuming, then signed each with my embossed seal and individually numbered them with an engraver on the bottom,” he explains.
“I titled this collection Supernatural because each bowl captures the liquid glass at the exact moment that centrifugal force takes over and the movement freezes,” he explains. Blown in luscious colours with vibrant irregular rims like bronze with carmine red, apricot with mint and steel grey with chartreuse, the result is a sensual, one-of-a kind shape that can be used as a vase, with a candle flickering inside or just as an ornamental piece.
Each bowl was then individually packaged in a hand-made cedar gift box produced in Langley by Woodpak Industries Inc.
The pressure mounted when the bowls, shipped out to Burbank, California were slowed down by the one big snowstorm that seems to hit Vancouver every year. “We were biting our nails,” admits Switzer,“but everything arrived intact a day ahead of our deadline.”
“I’m just honoured that Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scarlett Johansson among others have my pieces and hope they enjoy them!” says Andres.
A selection of the Supernatural Bowls can be ordered through SwitzerCultCreative. ($250.each )