The Nisa Factory, the exceptional work of artist Ivana Šrámková is on display; her life and artistic journey are deeply intertwined with the Liberec Region and the landscapes of the Železný Brod and Maloskalsko areas. The exhibition offers a cross-section of her multifaceted work—from monumental glass sculptures to poetic objects inspired by the bird world, to expressive and meditative paintings. 

The dominant part of the exhibition consists of monumental figurative sculptures made of fused glass, characterized by geometric simplicity, distinctive modeling, and a sensitive handling of light and the material’s surface. In her works, the artist does not exploit the striking optical properties of glass but focuses on its artistic and sculptural essence. The second section of the exhibition features more intimate objects inspired by the world of birds, which combine blown and fused glass with bronze and natural found materials. These poetic works reflect the artist’s imagination, playfulness, and joy in creation, which make them appealing to both adult and child visitors. The exhibition also includes original objects featuring colorful beads and the artist’s own kaleidoscopes, which underscore her experimental and playful approach to glass. 

Ivana Šrámková (*1960) is an artist deeply connected to our region. She was born in Liberec, grew up in Turnov, took private painting lessons in Malá Skála as a child, attended the glassmaking school in Železný Brod for high school (1976–1980), and spent her summer vacations at a cottage in Frýdštejn. Over the years, she has developed a sincere connection to the local landscape, its natural beauty, the distinctive charm of timber-framed architecture, and the forgotten art of folk carpenters, stonemasons, and sculptors. It was here that she found—and continues to find—powerful sources of inspiration for her artistic work.

Her studies in Professor Stanislav Libenský’s glass studio at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (1981–1987) were of fundamental importance in shaping this vision. This legendary teacher believed that a well-rounded and thorough education in the visual arts is fundamental even for the art of glassmaking. He also instilled in his students the principle that an artist must be honest in every creative expression of their artistic work. This guiding principle has shaped all of Ivana Šrámková’s later work, whether in the field of glass art or painting. Both disciplines are equally close to her heart, and in both fields she has been forging her own path independently for many years.

Initially, she preferred painting, but a series of sculptures in the form of automobiles made of thickly molded and painted glass, which she created during her final year of college, became a fortunate impetus for her subsequent work in glass art. Her work has two fundamental aspects. On the one hand, there are figurative sculptures that confirm the artist’s deep understanding not only of the meaning, composition, and structure of large-scale sculptural forms, but also of the possibilities for original uses of molten glass. She does not use glass for its easily exploited, showy optical properties; rather, she artistically highlights its specific qualities—arising from the way light passes through multicolored glass of varying thicknesses with a matte and rough surface. Her monumental figurative sculptures—in style somewhat reminiscent of works from the Archaic period of Greek sculpture or from ancient South American art—are characterized by geometric simplicity, clear contours, a sensitive interplay of volumes and lines, and—despite their lapidary expression—a somewhat unsettling mystery.

Significantly more intimate are the sculptures with their gentle, poetic stylization drawn from the world of birds. They are created from blown, densely molded, and fused glass in combination with bronze and other materials, often sourced from chance finds in the countryside. They attest to the artist’s inexhaustible imagination as well as her sincere joy in creative work; both are so unmistakable and effective in these superb works that they spontaneously evoke positive reactions even among the youngest child viewers. The artist’s playful nature is also reflected in her sculptures, which combine densely shaped and fused glass with colorful beads, as well as her completely original kaleidoscopes.