Artwork

Yaron Meyer is an Israeli glass artist, who grew up in Jerusalem. Currently based in London, he is moving to Tel Aviv next month. Yaron draws his inspiration from the complexity of nature and the relations of humans with it, his glass sculptures are a representation of nature while challenging context, scale, colour and use.  Having worked and studied as a glassblower since 2014, Yaron is endlessly fascinated by the technical challenges and innovative possibilities of his craft. “The glass is the earth - it’s made out of sand - and you use air and water and fire to manipulate it,” Yaron describes. “It’s like an extreme sport!”

Yaron’s practice is greatly inspired by the colours, rocks, and flora of the Judean desert.  “I grew up on the East side of Jerusalem,” explains Yaron, “and the desert is an amazing place because you have so much life, even though you don’t see it on the surface.” Using rocks from Jerusalem to mould his own glass sculptures and mimicking the delicate spikes of desert thorns, Yaron’s pieces pay homage to his place of origin. The sculptures are luxuriously crafted, but also manage to explore themes of survival and harshness. For Yaron these works have a personal resonance: “I perceive my growth amidst limited resources and challenging circumstances as both a blessing and a curse.”

Yaron, like many emerging artists, has been on an arduous journey to acquire the necessary skills and exposure. Yaron completed his BFA at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in 2018, studying ceramics and glass. In 2016, he won an excellence award to Pilchuck Glass School and studied as an exchange student in Massachusetts College of Art and Design.This month, Yaron has graduated from the Royal College of Art, London, with an MA in Glass supported by a scholarship from the Clore Foundation. “Having completed my MA at the RCA, I feel I’m ready to take on the world, but I also feel a lot of responsibility to prove myself after having benefited from this amazing scholarship.”

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In June 2023 he had his first solo exhibition ‘Intensified Nature’ in the Onion Garden, a public space near Victoria train station. Delicate fungal glass sculptures were placed among foliage and mounted on tree trunks, as if they had grown organically out of their environment.  “I love showing my pieces in a public garden, to display art in unexpected places, to see people interacting with art, without going into a white cube space. You can see it on your way to work or after drinks, you have a more unmediated, direct relationship with it.’

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Later this year, Yaron will be showing at the International Biennale of Glass in Bulgari, from 5 October to 3 December 2023. Confident in his technical abilities and eager to continue pushing the boundaries of glassblowing, Yaron feels challenged by the material of glass itself: “it’s the play between hot and cold, fluid and solid, that keeps me engaged.”