It's not just an Oscar that the top 25 Nominees at this year's 92nd Academy Awards may be displaying in their living rooms. Vancouver glass designer Jaan Andres created his luminous one-of-a-kind Supernatural bowls in 15 vibrant colours for the coveted swag bags delivered to the stars prior to the Academy Awards ceremony February 9.

€œPresented with the opportunity to take part, we thought a limited edition glass art piece by Jaan would make an unusual gift to the celebrities, many of whom are art collectors,€ explains Renee Switzer, founder and partner of luxury furniture and accessories showroom SwitzerCultCreative in Vancouver. €œJaan had recently had a successful exhibition of his glass here, and we agreed to sponsor the production for this very prestigious occasion.€

€œSwag bag is a bit of a misnomer,€ says Grace Lanuza of Brand Apiary, who submitted Andres€™ bowl design to a committee for inclusion. “It's more like a gigantic basket or suitcase that's hand-delivered to celebrity nominees€™ homes.” Out-of-town nominees will receive Jaan's piece at their hotel rooms prior to February 9. 

€œI'm trying to stay chill about it all,€ laughs Andres who, when not working on his own collections, blows glass for Omer Arbel's lighting company, Bocci. €œI had only 10 days to blow 40 pieces (I made extras to make sure we picked the perfect ones,) working night and day on the grinding and polishing, which is really time consuming, then signed each with my embossed seal and individually numbered them with an engraver on the bottom,€ he explains. 

Blown in luscious colours like bronze with carmine red, apricot with mint and steel grey with chartreuse, the result is a sensual, one-of-a kind shape that can be used as a vase, with a candle flickering inside or just as an ornamental piece. €œI titled this collection Supernatural because each bowl captures the liquid glass at the exact moment that centrifugal force takes over and the movement freezes,” says Andres. Each bowl was then individually packaged in a hand-made cedar gift box produced in Langley by Woodpak Industries.

The pressure mounted when the bowls, shipped out to Burbank, California were slowed down by the one big snowstorm that seems to hit Vancouver every year. €œWe were biting our nails,€ admits Switzer, €œbut everything arrived intact a day ahead of our deadline.€

€œI'm just honoured that Al Pacino and Leonardo DiCaprio among others, have my pieces and hope they enjoy them.€ says Andres.

A selection of the Supernatural Bowls can be ordered through SwitzerCultCreative. ($250 each.)

Laura Goldstein

Laura Goldstein