Annual Brains 2023, BV AC-23

Bertil Vallien created his first Brains in 1999, but by then he had already been thinking about them for over ten years. He wanted to capture a sleeping but living soul, a human being in the mysterious landscape between dream and wakefulness. Long before, he had heard of «Soverskan på Oknö», Karolina Olsson. Who, according to the stories, slept away 32 years of his life, but then suddenly woke up one April day in 1908. History has, as I said, never left Bertil in peace and he has returned to it time and time again in his works.

In 2023, when Bertil celebrated 60 years as a glass artist at Kosta Boda, he created a series of new Brains as a kind of gift to those of us who have followed his business over the years and who never stopped loving his unique ability to innovate the art of glass. The anniversary variants of Brains are slightly larger and heavier than the previous ones, and they rest comfortably on a soft leather cushion. Like the artist himself towards the end of the day when it gets dark around the cabin and the last thoughts cool in his head, you let your head rest in your hand instead, says Bertil.

The anniversary edition of Annual Brains was first produced in 2023. A new “annual brain” is launched every year thereafter, on Bertil Vallien’s birthday on 17 January.