PHOTO: Amy Robbins
THE STUDIO AT THE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS, CORNING, NT. November 2016 Fredrik Nielsen, a Stockholm-based Artist-in-Residence at the Corning Museum of Glass, prepares to transfer the body of one of his pieces from pipe to punty. Assistant Yashu Reddy is steady on the punty, ready to take the piece, while assistant Paisley Watson attentively “turns pole” (the pipe). Andrea, a timid beginner, furtively peers in on the action from behind. Reflecting on why he works in glass, Nielsen offered “I can just express my feelings through it. It’s like a flow… I feel like I am on the same level, connecting to glass. It doesn’t mean that I have to make something that’s really artistic or even art. It’s just that I like the material, because I feel I’m on the same level. I have the same intensity. It suits my body, it suits my temper.”