MAJA ZAPLOTNIK was born in 1973 in Kranj, a small town in Slovenia. She grew up in the green suburbs of Kranj with a magnificent mountain scenery in the background, spending many moments of her childhood in the surrounding nature,...
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MAJA
ZAPLOTNIK was born in 1973 in Kranj, a small town in Slovenia. She grew up in
the green suburbs of Kranj with a magnificent mountain scenery in the background,
spending many moments of her childhood in the surrounding nature, which
significantly influenced her life. Her love to nature grew gradually hand in
hand with her love to drawing and painting as well as creating with various
natural materials she found while exploring the surroundings.
After
finishing High School Škofja Loka she got a job at the Ljubljana Airport, then
in 1999 she came across glass as an artistic medium, which reawakened her
artistic vein. She was overwhelmed by
observing the process of creating classic stained glass and discovering how
tiny bits of glass, which at first glance do not arouse any enthusiasm, can
enchant you exceeding all the limits of expectations. Glass in its composition
hides and reveals a vast diversity and ability to create a dreamlike magical
atmosphere in endless variation and interpretation. Its colour diversity,
transmittance, reflection or refraction are some of the qualities that guided
her on her newly outlined path which marked and completely changed her life.
She stepped
on the path of glass design as an autodidact and in the first years she focused
mainly on studying technology as well as on handling the material. She brought
to perfection the classic stained glass and the tiffany stained glass making,
working on glazing, but later she switched to design of functional and
decorative objects. Her curiosity and desire to discover additional options in
designing have led her to learn the glass fusing technique which she currently uses
in her creations. She acquired her fine art knowledge studying painting at
College of Visual Arts Arthouse in Ljubljana.
She defines herself as a person of intuition,
who searches inspiration in nature, but also drawing from the subconscious and
trying to create with ease, since glass often behaves as a living organism and
the result of fusion can be quite unpredictable, which is why it remains her
eternal challenge. She is attracted its duality between liquid
and solid states, fragility and strength, colourfulness and transparency which
enables the transformation and recalls a realistic projection of nature or an
abstract subconscious deviation with the purpose of awakening both emotions and
senses of the spectator.
Ever since she set out on her own creative
journey she has been earning her living by designing and making unique glass,
concentrating on glass awards and trophies awarded also on the highest levels
in the field of protocol, sports, culture and economy at home as well as
abroad. Among the recipients of the awards she created were also the President
of Slovenia Milan Kučan and the President of the European Parliament Martin
Schulz.
She is a member of Contemporary Glass Society where
she was frequently selected due to other artists' appeals and introduced in
collective on-line exhibitions. In the recent years she has taken part of several
collective exhibitions.
She lives
and creates in Radovljica and she still prefers to spend her free time in
nature.
