The shortened deadline for production posed a challenge, but Gordana Glass managed to overcome it. During Tuesday's press briefing, she unveiled the trophies that the top female skiers will receive at the end of the January World Cup in Jasna. "You cannot deceive the work in the furnace and the melting process itself. If something needs to be in the furnace for 48 hours, you must leave it there for 48 hours. It cannot be shortened," she admitted with a satisfied voice.
Even Three Years Ago
Gordana Glass (originally Gordana Turuk) also crafted trophies for the top female racers during the 2021 World Cup. Not only does Petra Vlhova have them at home, but so does American Mikaela Shiffrin. This time, she decided to shape the trophy like a mold flower in combination with a snowflake. "The snowflake is in the skier's posture. We designed it so that each trophy produced will be an original, adapted to various colors. I tried to preserve the 16 petals that each mentioned mold flower contains. When we lifted the trophies onto the pedestals this morning, we laughed that we are like flowers waking up with the arrival of the sun," explained the artist, whose background intertwines several nationalities. "I was born in Germany, have Croatian roots, a great-grandmother from Hungary, and I have been living in Slovakia for 25 years. Take your pick," she said with a tired smile
Her work is somewhat of a lottery, but the acclaimed artist is accustomed to it after years of practice. "You cannot rely on any routine when working with glass. It can always happen that something goes wrong during production. Everything I use comes from the material Mother Earth gave us, so you never know how it is all composed. During each cooling process, there is a risk of it cracking. Even during the last hours of work when you already feel victorious. You open the furnace and realize you were mistaken," describes the challenges of the demanding but interesting work in her studio in Bratislava's Lamač
Five Months Later
How much time does it take to go from the initial idea to the final product? "About five months," estimates Gordana.
We will see her during the World Cup in Jasna (January 20-21, 2024), but likely not on the slopes with skis. "I underwent knee surgery in the meantime. Titanium screws hold it together. I can only move my eyes. Maybe I'll do ski touring, but I definitely won't go down the slopes," she says. By the way, the first contact with the World Cup organizers came about three hours after skiing in St. Moritz, Switzerland, with a broken knee. "Three hours earlier, I had been considering descending from the slope with that broken knee. But I am glad for the cooperation. I feel that there is satisfaction on both sides, which is always a pleasant feeling," says the former Croatian handball representative, who has already crafted souvenirs during visits to Slovakia for the Pope and the British Queen
