Small-scale stained glass artworks designed for the home
Stained glass doesn’t have to only be admired when looking up at a cathedral – Elena Zaycman is bringing her fun and colourful creations into the home.
Photography: Natasha Lozinskaya
Photography: Natasha Lozinskaya
Photography: Natasha Lozinskaya
Photography: Natasha Lozinskaya
When we think of stained glass, it’s likely that, for most, we think of scenes depicted in churches or maybe entrance doors in traditional homes.
Full-time stained glass designer and maker, Elena Zaycman, used to work in a studio with her sister where they created complex stained glass projects that needed complex installation work into interiors. But in 2017, the artist decided to go in a different direction – creating stained glass pieces that could be added to the interior without unnecessary difficulties.
“I like to work in a small format as it easily enters into a person’s life and home – independent, delicate, and unpretentious,” says Elena.
The artist uses the Tiffany technique to which she adds some of her own “personal inventions”.
“I started with ordinary suspensions, but in the process came up with a unique method of mounting, in which the stained glass part is carefully attached to a stand that can be easily brought into peoples’ homes.
“Just recently I came up with another new idea of combining stained glass pieces with plexiglass and I’ve already put this into practice.”
Photography: Olga Dimenshtein
Photography: Olga Dimenshtein
Working from her studio in her hometown of Saint Petersburg, Russia, Elena’s inspiration comes from anything and everything. One of her current collections is ‘Zoobastik’, a colourful and fun assortment of toothy creatures.
“The name Zoobastik comes from the Russian word ‘зуб’, which reads ‘zoob’ and means ‘tooth’. And the full name translates as ‘a nibbler’. I wanted to use the Russian word transliterated into English because, thanks to the z-sound, it is sharp and ringing, and the softened dull sounds at the end make it somehow rounded, just like Zoobastiks themselves – playful and cute.”
“I combined the elegance of natural forms, perfect in its imperfection, and the accurately ordered geometry.”
Photography: Olga Dimenshtein
‘Shelley Creatures’ is another line of Elena’s stained glass creations. For this collection, colours that ordinarily don’t play well in the sunlight were chosen, with their saturated colour quality instead being the focus.
“I wanted to go beyond the usual understanding of stained glass in this work, using non-standard materials and unusual forms,” says Elena. “I combined the elegance of natural forms, perfect in its imperfection, and the accurately ordered geometry.”
In all of the artist’s collections, it’s easy to see the amount of attention to detail that goes into each and every piece. And this is one of her favourite things about the art.
“I like the process – the assembling process itself and, in general, the whole process from the concept to the moment of shipping the work out to the buyer. I like scrupulousness, the process gives me pleasure.”
“I want to focus on my thoughts, feelings, and the idea of the beauty in the creating process and not on other people’s opinions – even positive ones.”
Photography: Olga Dimenshtein
“Creativity is the place where you are meant to be free.”
Since starting her personal stained glass journey in 2017, Elena has had an impressive level of success – even having her face shown in Etsy’s ‘Featured Shop’ series. But this success is something she is trying to not focus on so much at the moment, to instead create pieces that come from the heart and not out of a desire to impress and win over buyers.
“I want to focus on my thoughts, feelings, and the idea of the beauty in the creating process and not on other people’s opinions – even positive ones. I know why there was the super success of some works. I know how to repeat it. And that is scary to be stuck in one direction because of all that Instagram love and people’s positive attention, which people are eager to get.
“Don’t get me wrong here, I am not an exception. But it might become a drug you want more and more and can’t stop but can’t continue anymore as well. And it’s not good for a person to be addicted in any way.
“Creativity is the place where you are meant to be free.”
Saint Petersburg, Russia
