Celestial bodies: Flavie Audi traps iridescent colours in geological glass forms

French-Lebanese artist Flavie Audi's interest in glass developed when she was studying architecture in London. She became frustrated by the unimaginative way glass was often used – as a flat, stolid material. 'I was keen to manipulate glass in a sensual way, to give it humanity,' she explains. 'When working in architecture, you always have a client and a brief, so I thought the best way to explore this was to move away from architecture and into art.'
Since switching disciplines, Audi has been dubbed a 'glass artist'; which, despite her love of the material, is limiting. She also produces digital and analogue photography, film and multimedia art, as a new exhibition at Tristan Hoare gallery in London displays. Split into two rooms, 'Cell-(estial)' pinpoints the moment virtual and physical worlds meet, through the interaction between Audi's weighty blown-glass sculptures and her ethereal, airy video installations.
Despite the difference in mediums, the exhibition is united by Audi's dazzling, otherwordly aesthetic. There's an alien quality to each work. It's difficult to know how each piece was made, or what it's even made from. 'Everyone always wants to touch my works,' she says. 'I encourage this.'
'Fluid Rock 19'. © Flavie Audi. Courtesy of Tristan Hoare
You half expect the glass works to be soft and rubbery rather than smooth and glazed. The bubble-like textures are created through a variety of innovative glass-blowing techniques that Audi is keeping close to her chest. Though she does tell us, 'I like to misuse or invent new steps in the glass blowing process. It's like making my own recipes.'
All we know is that these mysterious recipes mix together synthetic elements with organic ones, reflecting glass' changing use from a purely physical, architectural object to an interactive one. Today, glass is something that we hold in our hands and interact with on a daily basis through our phones and devices. It is no longer a one-dimensional material; rather, it is an experiential, virtual one, beautifully captured here by Audi's curiously modern forms.
Left, Fluid Rock, 2016; and Gemscape 1, 2016. Photography: Ben Westoby. Right, Fluid Rock 16.
Cloudscape 8, 2016.
INFORMATION
’Cell-(estial)’ is on view until 9 January 2017. For more information, visit the Tristan Hoare
ADDRESS
Tristan Hoare
Six Fitzroy Square
London W1T 5HJ
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.
-
Fluid workspaces: is the era of prescriptive office design over?
We discuss evolving workspaces and track the shape-shifting interiors of the 21st century. If options are what we’re after in office design, it looks like we’ve got them
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This collection of slow furniture is a powerful ode to time
A serene exhibition of David Dolcini's 'Time-made' collection has fast-tracked its place into our hearts and homes
By Ifeoluwa Adedeji Published
-
Is the Pragma P1 the most sustainable watch yet?
Geneva-based brand Pragma combines industrial design with real sustainable credentials
By Hannah Silver Published
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next year
Tate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
By Anna Solomon Published
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlight
For more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
By Hannah Silver Published
-
From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain
‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ is at Edinburgh gallery Stills
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Celia Paul's colony of ghostly apparitions haunts Victoria Miro
Eerie and elegiac new London exhibition ‘Celia Paul: Colony of Ghosts’ is on show at Victoria Miro until 17 April
By Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou Published
-
Teresa Pągowska's dreamy interpretations of the female form are in London for the first time
‘Shadow Self’ in Thaddaeus Ropac’s 18th-century townhouse gallery in London, presents the first UK solo exhibition of Pągowska’s work
By Sofia Hallström Published
-
Sylvie Fleury's work in dialogue with Matisse makes for a provocative exploration of the female form
'Drawing on Matisse, An Exhibition by Sylvie Fleury’ is on show until 2 May at Luxembourg + Co
By Hannah Silver Published
-
What to see at BFI Flare film festival, 'a rich tapestry of queer experience'
As one of the only film festivals to explicitly profile LGBTQI+ cinema, BFI Flare Film Festival remains a unique and beloved event. Here's what to see as it makes its return to London from 19 - 30 March
By Billie Walker Published
-
The enduring appeal of Transport for London’s seat designs
From artist Rita Keegan’s new collage to fashion designer Adam Jones’ Overground suit, TfL moquettes continue to enjoy a cult status
By Kyle MacNeill Published