Maria Bang Espersen

Graduated from the Department of Glass and Ceramics (presently FormLab) at the Engelsholm Folk High School, Bredsten, Denmark, 2005. Graduated from Kosta glasskola (the Kosta School of Glass), Kosta, Sweden, 2009. Graduated from the programme Craft – Glass and Ceramics, the School of Design, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (KADK), Bornholm, Denmark, 2012.

She has received several grants and scholarships, including scholarships for studying under Kai Chan in 2012 and Bohyun Yoon in 2013 at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine, USA, as well a working grant from the Danish Arts Foundation, 2014.

In 2015 she has been teaching classes at the Royal College of Art, London, UK; in the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and in the Engelsholm Folk High School, Bredsten. She has also led a workshop with Max Syron at North Lands Creative Glass, Scotland, UK, 2015.

She has been granted several awards, including: the Coburg Prize for Contemporary Glass 2014, the Special Jury Award, Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, Germany, 2014; the KP Award, the Artists Easter Exhibition, Denmark, 2015; the Talent Award of the Jutta Cuny-Franz Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2015.

She has participated in 6 solo and duo exhibitions in Denmark and Norway, and in 28 group exhibitions in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, including: Underneath it all, the Bredgade Kunsthandel, Copenhagen,
Denmark, 2014; and Virkeligheden, Fortaelle Galeriest, Holstebro, Denmark, 2015.

Her works are in the collections of museums in Belgium, Germany, Sweden, and the USA, including: the European Museum of Modern Glass, Rödental, Germany; the Public Art Agency Sweden (Statens konstråd), Stockholm, Sweden; Ernsting Stiftung, Glasmuseum Alter Hof Herding, Coesfeld, Germany; the Museum of American Glass, the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Vineland, Millville, USA; the Studio Collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, USA.

Her approach to glass is experimental and playful, and she works with media such as video, sculpture, performance and various kinds of installations. She prefers following her own technique than traditional ones.