Marie De Bruyn's work stems from the traditional practice of glass blowing, and although the process is intrinsic to her work, she also uses mixed media to create conceptual installations.
A strong component of her work is the material itself. Light, density and translucency are qualities that she uses to alter an object made from glass. Transparency is not simply a way in which the viewer is able to go through the looking glass. In her work, it is away to explore the nature of her material by altering the texture. It is a nexus between space and object, using parameters, alignments and rotations to redefine the space they inhabit.

Marie removes the functionality that is often synonymous with glass objects and focuses on how form interacts with an architectural space. The objects that she creates take on an ethereal feel, nebulous in shape, oozing into their environment. Sometimes incongruous to their setting, but often guiding the viewer to look closely at how the object interacts within a space. Wooden frames, projections and mirrors provide a structure and a hard juxtaposition to the fluidity of the glass object.
There is a very direct communication that Marie has when shaping glass. The journey from a solid state to fluidity by means of heat. It is a very physical process, the breath of the glass blower, being manifested in the glass as it is being moulded. To the eye, it would appear that the glass mimics their breathing, the glass in a symbiotic relationship with the artists lungs. At the point of conception, where the glass meets the wooden structures of her maquettes the shape is realised. It is a very direct relationship. This forms the basis of an object. When creating site specific work, there is a transformative element in how the object relates to an architectural space. It is here that direct communication becomes a dialogue with the viewer.
Within her installations, a point of intersection occurs where the glass form touches its environment. This point defines a sense of otherness and is the basis of Marie De Bruyns work.
(text: Anitha Darla)