Oh baby: Kosta Boda teams up with Hanna Hansdotter and Kakan Hermansson for this spring’s most joyful art glass collection

What happens when Kosta Boda – the oldest glass company in Sweden – links up with one of the country’s most celebrated glass artists, Hanna Hansdotter, and renowned ceramist Karin ‘Kakan’ Hermansson? A ‘Baby’ is born. Not the human kind, but a smile-inducing art glass collection named ‘Baby’.

For Hansdotter and Hermansson, the collaboration was a long time coming. Both hail from Lund and even went to the same kindergarten. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until later that they got to know each other – at the acclaimed Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, where Hermansson was Hansdotter’s ceramics teacher. Since then, the duo has fostered a close friendship, exchanging artistic advice like fellow creatives often do.

“I figured that maybe it was a good idea for me and Kakan to collaborate, because she’s been asking me for years technical questions like ‘If I want to do this in glass, how do I do it?’ and so on,” Hansdotter explains. “Plus, I feel like our aesthetics are really connected.”

Related: Watch the hypnotic work of Hanna Hansdotter as she makes her famed glass sculptures

Hansdotter has been working with Kosta Boda on various projects for a few years now, and naturally thought of the glass company as the perfect final piece of the puzzle. “I asked Kakan if she’d be up for this, and she was really happy about it,” Hansdotter says. Hermansson adds: “Hanna and I have been saying for ten years that we would work together, and once we did, everything fell into place.”

‘Baby’ introduces a range of eye-catching, free-blown vases and vessels in vibrant hues, which the artists themselves playfully dub as “very impractical.” In a cheeky form, many pieces have been adorned with call-outs like ‘Honey’, ‘Daddy’, ‘Åhhh’, ‘Baby’, and more – words that surely carry different meanings for different viewers. “These are kind of intimate words that directly speak to the viewer,” Hansdotter says. “For me, glass is a very intimate and sensual material – something that’s deeply connected to the body, the process and the tactile.”

For Hermansson, who’s pretty new to the glass scene, merging her approach – which she describes as “a deep love for historical and contemporary craft” – with Hansdotter’s quirky, even rebellious aesthetic was “surprisingly easy.” “Both of us are very secure and confident in our design language and ourselves. Unpretentious and curious, we greatly respect each other’s artistry,” she says. Pulling references from each others’ universes – many of which are intertwined due to their similar backgrounds – ‘Baby’ features techniques like marbling, which Hermansson has been developing with ceramics. Now, it’s blended into the world of glass, rendering the sculptural pieces in sweet swirls of saturated blues, pinks, oranges and yellows.

Clay and glass are two very different materials (“Glass is difficult for me to access because I can’t be hands-on – with clay, I have a direct anchoring from the brain via the body and hands,” Hermansson says). Still, both artists note the freeing aspect of letting go of control, having fun and seeing where the process took them.

Related: Heart of glass: Get to know Swedish glass master Morgan Persson

Collaborating with the master glassblowers at Kosta Boda was a special experience, particularly for Hermansson. “Working with them has been a gift, learning their language, which consists of looks and nods, and being able to set demands and recognise limitations,” she says. “For me, someone who has devoted myself a lot to heavy subjects, it’s been nice to dedicate myself to something so joyful, with humour – to allow myself that, especially in these times.”

‘Baby’ premieres at Kosta Boda Art Gallery in Kosta on Saturday, April 26, in the presence of the artists. The exhibition features around thirty unique works along with four ‘Edition Artist’ series – original pieces produced in editions of five.