What Is Reverse Glass Painting? Hinterglasmalerei in Contemporary Art
Reverse glass painting, also known as Hinterglasmalerei, is a centuries-old technique in which an image is painted directly onto the reverse side of a sheet of glass. Unlike painting on canvas, the finished work is viewed through the glass, giving the colour a particular depth and intensity.
The process requires the usual order of painting to be reversed. Details and highlights that would normally be added towards the end must be painted first, followed by subsequent layers of colour. Once completed, the glass becomes both the surface of the painting and the means through which it is viewed.
My Approach to Reverse Glass Painting
I began working with reverse glass painting as part of my continuing exploration of colour, light, landscape and perception.
My Hinterglasmalerei works combine oil paint with gold leaf. Painting onto glass creates a very different quality from working on aluminium or paper. The smooth surface allows colours to remain intense, while the reflective qualities of the glass and gold leaf mean that the work changes according to the surrounding light and the position of the viewer.
The technique also requires a different way of thinking. Because the painting is constructed backwards, there is an element of uncertainty during the process. I am often unable to see the final image properly until the work is turned around.
Landscape, Colour and Imagination
Landscape is a recurring starting point throughout my work, but I am not interested in simply recording a particular place. I use remembered landscapes, observations, drawings and imagined spaces to create environments that sit somewhere between abstraction and representation.
In the reverse glass paintings, colour becomes particularly important. Reflections, areas of gold and layers of saturated colour shift as the light changes, allowing the image to appear different throughout the day.
For me, this combination of an historic technique with contemporary imagery is what makes Hinterglasmalerei so interesting. It provides another way of exploring the relationship between painting, light and the physical surface of an artwork.
