Klaus Moje was born in Hamburg in 1936. He trained as an apprentice in his father’s small glass grinding business and then completed a masters degree at the vocational glass school Glasfachschule Hadamar. This was a sound technical education drawing on the traditional cold working skills coming out of the great Bohemian glass centres, and its influence could be seen in Moje’s absolute insistence on finely detailed cutting and perfectly ground surfaces.

In 1961 Moje established a joint studio in Hamburg with his first wife Isgard, and by 1975 had begun to develop the kiln-formed mosaic process for which he would become internationally famous. From a technical point of view these years for Moje were ones of trial and error. In contrast to the American experience of the 1960s where many small glass studios were developing, often in conjunction with art schools, at this time in Germany there were very few artists working with glass in individual studios and certainly no kiln-forming examples that Moje could draw on. Just as Moje’s techniques were novel, so was the use of bold colour and geometry he began to use around this time. Moje had found his voice, and it was new and exciting.

In 1982 Moje, accompanied by his second wife, ceramicist Brigitte Enders, moved to Australia to set up the first glass workshop at what was then known as the Canberra School of Art, now the Australian National University (ANU) School of Art and Design SOA&D). Moje would spend 10 years there, inspiring a group of emerging glass artists, many of whom went on to establish international careers of their own. As a teacher Moje was both demanding and generous. He insisted his students “dig deep” to find the artist inside. He believed creativity should be matched by exceptional technical skill – an approach not always shared by fellow artists within the international community but one to which he remained committed his whole life.

Moje was passionate about Australia and especially about its young glass community. By the mid-80s Ausglass, the national association for Australian artists working in glass, had grown from a small group of 40 artists in 1978 to around 400 members. Early on Ausglass had established a biennial conference accompanied by a members’ exhibition. It was the 1983 Ausglass members’ exhibition which carried the first of Moje’s Australian-made works. These were two pieces from the ‘New Horizon’ series, named by Moje as a play on his arrival in Australia, and the new landscape he had found to inspire him. One of these pieces is currently held in a private collection in Portland, USA, the whereabouts of the other is now unknown.

The Australian landscape and its rocky shorelines remained a life-long inspiration for Moje. Following his time at the ANU, he established a joint studio with Enders on the south coast of New South Wales where he was surrounded by the Australian bush. He often turned to land and sea themes in his work, excited by their suggestions of immense techtonic forces and the infinitely complex dazzle of colours. It was a theme that was especially dominant in his earliest wall panels which he began to produce in 1996.

Moje was also passionate about The Canberra Glassworks. Having worked closely with young artists in the glass workshop at the ANU, he was also keenly aware that without glass facilities it was difficult for them to stay in Canberra following graduation. The Canberra Glassworks was established to address this problem by providing international standard glass facilities, studios and an exhibition program. Moje was actively involved in its development and continued to support its work as a foundation Board Director, and later Artistic Patron. Moje’s presence at the Glassworks was felt most strongly however in his active engagement as an artist through residencies, exhibitions and workshops – the latter never failing to draw a crowd.

Moje’s work is held in over 60 public collections. Over the course of his career he has been shown in over 40 solo shows. His contribution to world glass has been recognised many times over, including an Order of Australia, an Australia Council Emeritus Award, the Urban Glass and the Glass Art Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Ausglass Lifetime Membership.

LINKS:

• Klaus Moje: A life of skill and creativity as an artistic pioneer (ABC)

• Klaus Moje AO 1936-2016 (Canberra Times)

• Meet the artist: Klaus Moje (Corning Museum of Glass)