Tuva Gonsholt

Norwegian artist combines nature-inspired work with technical experimentation in pieces featured in international collections

Visual artist Tuva Gonsholt lives and works in Skien, Norway, where she has maintained her Tuva Glass studio since 2008. Specializing in cold-worked glass, she recently won first place at the Connections 2025: Glass From Every Angle exhibition at the Arlington Museum of Art Fine Arts Gallery in Texas, United States, consolidating her position as one of the leading contemporary representatives of Scandinavian glass art.

The Connections 2025 exhibition, promoted by the Glass Art Society (GAS), is one of the most prestigious glass art shows in the United States. Held at the Glass Museum in Arlington, Texas, the show brings together works by members of the International Society of Glass Artists, functioning as a showcase for trends and technical innovations in the field. The competition attracts hundreds of artists from various countries, making the first-place award a significant distinction in the international circuit. Gonsholt competed with a work identified as “ART #02,” which stood out among the works selected by the specialized jury.

“ART #02

This is not the first time the Norwegian artist has stood out in the Glass Art Society’s Connections series. In 2022, she had already won second place at the Connections 2022: Glass From Every Angle exhibition, held at the Glass Museum in Tacoma, Washington. The progression from second to first place demonstrates the maturation of her artistic research and the growing recognition of her work in the competitive North American glass art market.

Graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design, in Bornholm (2003), Gonsholt has developed over more than two decades a singular visual language that combines technical precision with aesthetic experimentation. Her works are part of permanent collections at important institutions such as the National Museum of Oslo, the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in the same city, KODE in Bergen, and the Nordenfjeldske Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Trondheim, in addition to international museums specializing in glass, such as the European Museum of Modern Glass in Germany and the Musée du Verre in Charleroi, Belgium.

The artist’s work is characterized by the intersection of nature, scientific observation, and glass. Insects and other creatures from the natural world serve as a starting point for her creations, whose decorations, shapes, and colors are transformed into her own artistic expression. “Insects and other strange creatures are the inspiration for my work. I transform the decorations, shapes, or colors into something that is my own artistic expression,” states the artist.

Gonsholt maintains intense exhibition activity. In 2025, she presented the solo show “Art Fabuleringer” at Kunstgarasjen in Bergen. The previous year, she held solo exhibitions at the Telemark Center of Art (“Habitus” in Skien) and at the Østfold Centre of Art in Fredrikstad.

The artist’s international trajectory includes participation in important events in the glass art circuit. In 2025, she was part of the International Glass Biennial (IBG2021) at Kvadrat 500, National Gallery of Sofia, Bulgaria. She also participated in the Contemporary Glass Art Biennial at the Museum of Fine Arts in Charleroi, Belgium, and the 2024 International Glass Art Exhibition at Walmuseum Zwiesel, Germany.

Habitus 2024

Her recognition in the North American circuit, consolidated with consecutive awards at the Glass Art Society, was reinforced by inclusion in New Glass Review 43, the annual printed exhibition of the Corning Museum of Glass, one of the most respected institutions dedicated to glass art in the world. The Glass Art Society, founded in 1971, brings together more than 3,000 artists, educators, students, collectors, and glass enthusiasts worldwide, being the main organization of its kind in the United States.

Institutional support for her artistic production is consistent. Since 2021, she has received a five-year government grant for artists. In recent years, she has been awarded support from the Norwegian Crafts Fund and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for freight and travel (2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025), in addition to resources from the Regional Fund for Visual Arts Projects (KIN) in 2022 and the Visual Artists Relief Fund (BKH) in 2023. These resources have enabled her participation in international exhibitions and the transport of works to museums and galleries in Europe and the United States.

FIREBUG. Historický park Lednické Rovne, Slovakia 2023

Gonsholt’s activities are not restricted to artistic creation. She plays an active role in Norwegian visual arts institutions. She has been a member of the Norwegian Association of Arts and Crafts since 2003, an entity in which she joined the Nominations Committee in 2024 and served as an alternate in 2023. Not only that, but she was a nominated representative on the NK Sør-Norge board between 2019 and 2023, holding an alternate position in the 2023-2025 biennium and again between 2025 and 2027.

Between 2008 and 2018, she was part of the Telemark Center of Art board. She serves as curator of the “Spriten Inviterer: Glass Edition” initiative at Spriten Kunsthall in Skien and was appointed as a jury member for the Glass Art Society members’ exhibition “Connections 26,” to be held in Corning, New York, in 2027. The appointment to the 2027 edition jury represents additional recognition of her expertise in the field and the prestige gained through previous awards.

Her professional training included stints at important glass studios. Between 2004 and 2007, she worked at Celsiusglas in Copenhagen, and between 2003 and 2005 at Hagen Glass in Hillerød, both in Denmark. From 1997 to 2000, she worked at Glasshytta Kragerø in Norway, where she began her professional career after studies at Skien Gymnasium (1992-1995).

The artist has participated in relevant artist residencies, such as the one held in 2025 at S12 in Bergen and the residency at The Furniture Factory in Bornholm (2005-2006). In 2022, she was a guest artist at the RONA International Glass Symposium in Slovakia, where she also created a permanent installation at Lenicke Rovne Historical Park in 2023.

Gonsholt also develops public art projects. Among her most recent achievements are installations at Norwegian health and education institutions, such as Kverndalen Nursing Home (2023) and Kjørbekk Høgda Primary School (2020), both in Skien, in addition to Sentrum Medical Centre (2019), also in the same city.

She is a member of BONO (Norwegian Society of Visual Artists’ Copyrights), the Norwegian Association of Glass Artists, and the Glass Art Society in the United States, maintaining institutional ties that support her insertion in national and international contemporary glass art circuits. Membership in the Glass Art Society, which organizes the Connections exhibition, has allowed her not only to participate in competitions but also to integrate into a global network of professionals who share techniques, promote exhibitions, and foster the development of contemporary glass art.

Website: https://www.tuvagonsholt.no/