C:\VETROAL\BIO.EXE
Nadeschda Barenje

Nadeschda Barenje

you will usually find me in the hotshop.

Stockholm, Sweden · b. 1992, Sweden · she/her

BFA Ceramics and Glass, Konstfack 2026

296 ECTS · 11 universities · 858 Python files · 2039 STL files

Mother, glassblower, programmer, researcher

I work primarily with glass and ceramics. My practice grows out of staying with material for a long time. Casting, blowing, forming, testing, failing, repeating and experiencing the world through my material of choice. Glass as a sort of avatar.

I am interested in how memory, care, labour and life are expressed in material systems. How form can emerge when digital tools meet physical processes. 3D modeling, generative algorithms and neural networks become ways of organizing thought. Glass casting, electroforming and mold making become ways of giving that thought a body.

I grew up in Sweden, lived in Norway for some years, studied glassblowing in Nybro for three years, then entered Konstfack. I started writing code as a kid, entering The Sims cheats and making HTML presentations on stallet.se. Later, code became a way to solve practical problems in the workshop. Then it started behaving like material. A Python script and a plaster mold have more in common than people think. Both are containers for something that does not yet exist.

I write Python the way I mix a batch. I debug the way I coldwork. The screen and the kiln are not opposites. They are two furnaces.

On April 4, 2025, I created and gave birth to my greatest piece of art: my son. A happy, sleepy baby who lets mummy do a lot of work.

■ Artistic Practice

My work sits at the intersection of digital technology and traditional material processes. I investigate how living systems can be generated digitally and then materialized in glass, metal and other materials. The transfer between code and matter is not a translation. It is a casting process. The mold is the algorithm. The glass is the output.

I train neural networks on archives of my own sculptures. The machine learns to see my work. Then it generates new forms that I have never made but that carry traces of everything I have. I walk through latent space the way I walk through a forest. The path is not predetermined. The landscape is learned.

I build evolutionary simulations where digital organisms compete, mutate and reproduce. Their bodies are mathematical surfaces. Their behavior is emergent. Some of them I 3D-print and copper-plate through electroforming. The digital creature acquires a metal skin. A birth in reverse.

I cast executable code in glass. 103 lines from my GitHub, selected for their function: lines that train models, generate images, create life. The code does not run in glass. But it is preserved. A hard copy.

Materials and Methods

Physical

  • Glass casting and kiln forming
  • Glassblowing (hotshop)
  • Pâte de verre
  • Ceramic casting (porcelain, stoneware)
  • Glaze development and experimental research
  • Plaster and silica mold making
  • Silicone mold making
  • Electroforming (copper plating)
  • Lost PLA casting
  • Aluminum sand casting
  • Tin casting
  • Coldwork (cutting, grinding, polishing)
  • Spray painting and surface treatment

Digital

  • GAN training (Progressive, StyleGAN2/3, FastGAN)
  • Diffusion models and LoRA fine-tuning
  • Evolutionary simulation (Gielis superformula)
  • 3D modeling (Blender, OpenSCAD)
  • 3D printing (FDM, resin)
  • Parametric design and scripting
  • Data visualization
  • Web development (Three.js, PHP, vanilla JS)
  • Video synthesis and morphing
  • Photogrammetry
  • Generative systems and autonomous agents

Languages

Human: Swedish (native), English (fluent), Norwegian nynorsk & bokmål (fluent), Biblical Hebrew (reading), Cebuano/Tagalog (bar level), French, Arabic, Russian (in my mitochondria)

Machine: Python, JavaScript, PHP, C++, C#, HTML/CSS, SQL, R, OpenSCAD, GLSL

Themes

Digital materiality · Evolutionary systems · Morphogenesis · Code as material · Transfer between digital and physical · Generative art · Material memory · Circulation and process · Care and labour · Bodies and life forms

■ Glass & Sculpture

Hard Copy

Hard Copy degree project 2026

103 lines of executable code from GitHub cast in glass as physical plates. Programs that generate images, train neural networks and create digital life forms transferred into material form. The GitHub repository is the quarry. The executable line is the ornament. The kiln is the compiler. Omnämnd av @cprintjournal.

Perenna

Perenna blown glass

Blown glass objects made from recycled industrial cullet. The material has already been something: a bottle, a window, a vessel. It carries memory in its chemistry. Remelted and reformed, it becomes something new that remembers its previous life. Perennial. Returning.

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea exhibition 2025

Glass and ceramic objects arranged in domestic scale. The table as exhibition space. The cup as sculpture. Intimacy as method.

Synecdoche

Synecdoche of Care 2024

Starting from a topographic map of Östermalm. Cast tin, blown glass, silvered glass, projection, video. A part standing for the whole. Fragment as sculpture. The incomplete object that implies everything it is missing.

Babels torn hot blowmold 2023

Pink glass blown into gypsum-quartz mold in sections. Tower form. Hot blowmold technique.

Glastart hot blowmold 2023

Two-story cake in clear glass. Hot blowmold from gypsum-quartz mold.

Kodplattor glass casting

Individual glass plates 24x24 cm with executable code as raised relief. Each plate carries one function, one loop, one act of creation. Four plates about NOISE: Gaussian noise, forward diffusion, noise prediction, reverse loop.

Hard Candy 2025

"Nature's glassblowers - we make something beautiful out of what hurts." Cast glass, porcelain, mirror.

Vetroal Reality 2025

Mixed media, real and fake. Tin and glass cast from 3D-printed forms.

Kvinnans Form / Female Form 2023

Scolds bridle and corset. Historical restriction devices translated to sculpture. Glass, ceramic, metal.

Kappor som Kupor 2025

Reversible plates with rich-side and poor-side. Environmental perspective on consumption.

Scout 2024

Glass blown inside ceramic shell, interior spray painted. Glass, ceramic, metal, HIPS, PVC, spray paint, projection, video.

Cirque du Stockholm 2024

Holder based on brainstem and Indian prayer bell. Glass, metal, PLA, pâte de verre, video.

Innocence Lost 2024

Sculptural installation. Paradise lost, re-formed.

Love for the Game glass

Glass and moss. The organic overtaking the crafted.

Farfars brev ongoing

Letters to grandfather used as molds for glassblowing. Paper folded, dipped in wax, invested in plaster, burned out. The glass objects activate with light via PIR sensor and Raspberry Pi. The letter disappears. The glass remains.

Gjutglasyrer research

Experimental glass casting glaze research. Oxide chemistry, COE calculations, frit-based and borosilicate systems for casting at 860-940°C in gypsum-silica molds. Zinc-borate systems. Copper electroforming on glass surfaces.

Poly Lactic Acid concept 2026

Fountain sculpture in blown glass. A pig torso with human finger-teats. White water (fake milk) circulates through the body. PLA as material pun. The digital (3D-print) meets the analog (blown glass).

■ AI & Machine Learning

min_bild_ai

min_bild_ai / GANTASTIC progressive GAN

A progressive GAN trained from scratch on 6688-7843 personal photographs of my own sculptures. 1600+ hours of local GPU training on a GTX 1660 Super. The model learns at 128x128, then grows to 256, 512, 1024. Each resolution reveals new structure. The latent space becomes a landscape. The z-vector is the seed. The generator is the mold. Upscaled to 4096px via Real-ESRGAN.

Sculptor Engine autonomous agent

An autonomous AI agent for experiment planning in min_bild_ai. Analyzes entire training history, proposes next experiments, prevents repeated failures. Bash alias: sculptor. The machine plans its own evolution.

extern_ai LoRA / diffusion

LoRA fine-tuning of Stable Diffusion on own art archive. Style transfer with "nadja_art" trigger word. Collage generation, video synthesis via Wan2GP. PeftModel merge pipeline.

FastGAN GAN

Alternative lightweight GAN architecture. Framed walk with GAN process visualization as border. The training process itself becomes the artwork.

StyleGAN2 / StyleGAN3 GAN

NVIDIA architectures trained on personal datasets. Latent space interpolation, truncation experiments, style mixing.

video_ai morphing

Image-to-video morphing pipeline. Local and Colab-based workflows. Chain random morphing, selenium controller for cloud GPU sessions.

latent_space_walker visualization

Published GitHub project. Random walks and gradient traversal through GAN latent space, visualized as video. The path through possibility space, recorded.

ganensmamma spacewalk video

Space walk video combining astronaut footage, disco, and scrolling executable code. The GAN's mother, floating through space. 10-minute version planned.

■ Generative & Evolutionary Systems

Electroformed

Electroformed Organisms math to matter

Organisms generated from Gielis superformula parameters, 3D-printed in PLA and copper-plated through electroforming. Copper ions deposit atom by atom. The mathematical creature acquires a metal skin, a weight, a temperature. A birth in reverse: from equation to object.

LAJFI

LAJFI ecosystem

An evolutionary digital ecosystem where organisms built from Gielis superformulas compete, mutate and reproduce. 32-parameter DNA system, sexual reproduction, mutation. Five-segment creatures (PENTAD) with emergent behavior. 539+ STL files generated (2.2 GB). Organisms have Swedish names: BOKA, GLIF, ZOMPA. Written in Python, visualized in Three.js, exhibited as web installation. GitHub: jinkieyz/lajfi.

LAJF original

The first life form. Single-body Gielis creature. The seed from which everything grew.

TRIAD evolution

Three-body fusion organisms. Three LAJF creatures merged into one composite body.

FILI evolution

Filament-based organisms. Thin, stretched, reaching. Nine specimens generated.

HOLI headless generator

Headless organism generator. Batch-produces LAJFI creatures for exhibition, print and archive. Ultra256v2 with Taubin smoothing. ~60 life forms generated. The factory floor of digital biology.

PENTAD evolution

Five-segment creatures with Perlin noise surface distortion. 39 naturmonster generated. The most complex body plan in the ecosystem.

FUSHOLIPENT evolution

The ultimate fusion: Perlin noise meets Gielis superformula. All previous evolutionary branches combined.

lajfi_lab exhibition edition

Exhibition edition of LAJFI. PyGame + OpenGL, 1280x720, 30 FPS, chrome color palette. Built for gallery display.

JAFI Demo / PENTAD Demos interactive

Four web demos: PS2 Demo (retro VGA, CRT effects, exhibition version), God Mode (interactive parameter editor), Simulator (full evolution), PyQt5 Viewer (desktop app).

Kinetisk skulptur physical

Five organic sculptures (15 cm, 200-300 g) gliding across PVC surface via hidden rotating magnets underneath. Jerky, alive-looking movement. Complete build documentation.

■ Data Sculptures

Birthwave

Birthwave data to glass

Glass sculptures generated from real-world data. Weather data from SMHI/Bromma from the week my child was born controlled kiln firing curves. Seven identical glass forms run through seven unique temperature curves. Result: almost identical objects with subtle differences in cracks, transparency, bubbles. Geography becomes geometry becomes glass.

Birthwave: Biblical Places sacred geography

Five glass sculptures from coordinates, elevation and temperature of biblical sites: Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Sinai, Jordan River. GPS data becomes Gielis superformula parameters. The sacred encoded in mathematics.

WiFi CSI / Carried Stillness Intruder installation

WiFi-reactive video installation. Movement disturbs the image via ESP32-C6 measuring Channel State Information. Bodies detected through radio waves. Presence without cameras. CRT-like distortion effects. Published on GitHub.

RSSI Star Visualization data poetry

Radio signal strength rendered as constellations. Data visualization as a form of contemporary poetry.

■ Digital Fabrication & 3D

2039 STL files archive

A personal archive of 3D models spanning organisms, sculptures, molds, tools and experiments. Generated via Blender scripting, Meshy AI, OpenSCAD, and parametric Python. The digital quarry from which physical work is extracted.

Meshy AI Sculptures AI 3D

33+ AI-generated 3D sculptures via Meshy. Text-to-3D pipeline for rapid prototyping of conceptual forms. Each prompt is a casting instruction for the machine.

Sandformar parametric

Parameter-generated Gielis sand molds in Blender. STL export for CNC or 3D-print patterns used in aluminum sand casting.

Blender Scripts tooling

Custom Blender Python scripts: gielis_terrain.py, lajfi_fossils.py, lajfi_torus.py, gielis_ascii.py. The workshop extended into code.

Abraka tool

Python GUI for generating glass casting molds as STL. Automatic air channel placement (top, side, bottom), 3D preview, throttled rendering. Also available as web version.

Silikon technique

Silicone mold making for glass forms. img2img morphing experiments on silicone textures.

lera3d ceramic

Wall plates in OpenSCAD/STL designed for clay 3D printing. Digital file to ceramic output.

■ Web & Tools

vetroal.se portfolio

Personal website built as a Windows 95 desktop simulation. Handcoded HTML/CSS/JS, no frameworks. Draggable windows, boot animation, start menu, ASCII art, rain animation, easter eggs. Hosted on STRATO via SFTP. 25+ subpages including interactive tools.

Kompa glass tool

Glass kiln firing schedule calculator. Web tool for planning kiln runs with temperature curves and hold times.

Reaktionsformel chemistry tool

Glass chemistry calculator. Stoichiometry for glass recipes. Oxide percentages, UMF (Unity Molecular Formula), batch-to-formula conversion.

Enki ceramic tool

Web app for ceramic firing and clay planning. Icon-based interface. Includes clay 3D printing research documentation.

CAD / STL Viewer 3D web

Three.js-based STL viewer with export. Displays organic Gielis forms in the browser. Used for organism inspection and sharing.

Krypto game

Cryptogram puzzle game. Progressive Web App in vanilla JavaScript. Offline support, highscore system. Android APK built. The word as cipher.

claude_code_telegram dev tool

Telegram bot bridging Claude Code CLI. CI/CD pipeline, pre-commit hooks, image/screenshot support. v1.6.0. Python 3.11+, Poetry. Conversational interface with session persistence.

vetroal.se/dump utility

File sharing directory on the portfolio site. PDFs, STLs, videos, APKs. Used when Thunderbird attachments fail on phone.

■ Hardware & Electronics

Pip-Boy Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi 5-based Pip-Boy replica. Android app (Java/Gradle), vault_tec_os with custom APKs and scripts. Based on Fallout 4 Pip-Boy MkIV design. Wearable computing as cosplay engineering.

Raspberry Pi Streaming Hub media

Pi as thin client. Sunshine/Moonlight game streaming from desktop, N64 emulation (Zelda: OoT), media center. Nothing stored locally.

Holofan display

Smart 5D Hologram Fan (F-Mini 4.72"). Deep reverse engineering of .bin format (ee34 magic, polar encoding, mold scrambling). .NET decompilation of 5DDisplayer.exe. GANTASTIC latent walks displayed as floating holograms. SD card recovery with photorec.

iDotMatrix LED Panel display

32x32 BLE LED panel (IDM-AD1394). Pixel art display for generative visuals. Requires pixel-art thinking, not mathematical curves.

Hemautomation IoT

Lenovo tablet as kiosk display via FreeKiosk. Calendar, bus times (SL API), events. PHP API backend. ADB-controlled. The home as interface.

Farfars brev PIR-system interactive

PIR motion sensor + Raspberry Pi activating light inside glass-cast letters. Presence triggers memory.

ESP32-C6 WiFi CSI sensing

ESP32 microcontroller measuring WiFi Channel State Information for the Carried Stillness Intruder installation. Radio waves as artistic medium.

■ Music & Sound

Experimental Electronic Music IDM / microsound

Compositions in IDM, microsound, drum and bass, and electroacoustic styles. Sound as material and process. Frequency carving, sidechain compression, loudness normalization. WAV production.

dnb_sycamore DnB

Drum and bass jungle remix project. Sycamore original reprocessed through breakbeat surgery.

Ljuddesign för film BTH 7.5hp

University course in sound design for film at Blekinge Tekniska Högskola. Completed 2023.

■ Education

2023 – 2026
Konstfack, University of Arts, Crafts and Design
BFA Ceramics and Glass. 147 hp. Material based studies in glass and ceramics. Long periods of making, reflection, contextual work and production. Degree project: Hard Copy.
2024 – 2026
Jensen / Hermods (Komvux Stockholm)
Programming, web development, CAD, IT, networking. Grades: Programming 2 (A), Web Development 1 (A), Computer Technology (A), Servicekunskap (A), Web Dev 2 (B), Networking (B), Programming 1 (C), Web Server Programming (C).
2020 – 2023
Riksglasskolan, Nybro
Glassblowing, kiln formed glass, casting, coldwork and mold making. Three years of daily workshop practice.
Videregende opplæring, Norway
General studies. Norwegian high school.
2019 – present
296 ECTS across 11 universities
Konstfack 132, Södertörn 52.5, Mittuniversitetet 30, Uppsala 15, Borås 15, Linné 15, Göteborg 9, BTH 7.5, Umeå 7.5, Stockholm 7.5, Linköping 5. Subjects: art history, religious studies, AI, cybersecurity, sound design, chemistry, astronomy, philosophy, literature, illustration, biblical Hebrew, modeskiss.
2020 + 2025
Elements of AI, University of Helsinki
Pre-LLM introduction to AI. Revisited 2025 post-ChatGPT alongside continued studies in NLP, cybersecurity and network systems.

■ Code & Technical

class Nadja:
    materials  = ["glass", "ceramic", "copper", "PLA", "aluminum", "tin"]
    languages  = ["Python", "JS", "PHP", "C++", "C#", "SQL", "R", "GLSL"]
    tools      = ["Blender", "ffmpeg", "Three.js", "PyTorch", "OpenSCAD"]
    ai_models  = ["ProgressiveGAN", "StyleGAN2/3", "FastGAN", "LoRA", "VQVAE"]
    human_lang = ["sv", "no", "en", "fr", "ar", "he", "ceb"]
    files      = {"py": 858, "sh": 714, "stl": 2039, "html": 77, "repos": 12}

    def practice(self):
        while True:
            idea = self.observe()
            model = self.train(idea)      # 1600+ GPU hours
            form = self.generate(model)   # latent space walk
            self.cast(form)               # kiln at 940C

■ Exhibitions

2026 Hard Copy – Degree Exhibition, Konstfack, Stockholm
2025 Afternoon Tea – Konstfack, Stockholm
2025 The Last Supper – Konstfack, Stockholm
2024 Stockholms Konstsalong – Stockholm
2024 What We Do Not See – Konstfack, Stockholm
2023 Degree Exhibition – Riksglasskolan, Kosta
2023 Debut
2022 Lilla Galleriet – Nybro
2022 Stenhallen – Öland
2021–22 Pukeberg Group Exhibition – Nybro

■ Commercial & Commissions

Vetroal Reality enskild firma

Freelance practice: 3D modeling (Blender, OpenSCAD), programming solutions (Python, JavaScript, web), glassblowing and coldwork, custom glass orders (vases, wedding glasses, gifts).

Absolut Vodka – Nordic Spice 2023

Glassblowing campaign for the Chinese and Indian markets. Commercial glass production at industrial scale.

Konstfack Julmarknad 2023, 2024, 2025

Annual sale of handmade glass objects at Konstfack Christmas market.

Julmarknad Öland 2020

Glass sales at Öland Christmas market during Riksglasskolan period.

Food Not Bombs, Dumaguete Philippines, ~2 years

Volunteer food distribution. Approximately two years. Before the glass, there was bread.

■ Grants & Applications

Konstfacks stiftelser 2026

Granted 10 000 kr (2026).

Estrid Ericsons Stiftelse 2024, 2026

Granted 3 000 kr (2024). New application submitted May 2026.

Svenska kyrkans kulturstipendium 2026

Application for 100 000 kr. Submitted May 2026.

S12 Galleri og Verksted, Bergen residency 2026

Young & Loving 2026. GEMESIS project. Application submitted, awaiting decision June 2026.

The Glass Factory, Boda residency 2026

Artist residency application. Gielis superformula meets glassworks meets recycled material. Awaiting decision June 2026.

■ Press & Mentions

@cprintjournal (Instagram) – Mentioned by C-Print Journal, contemporary art magazine based in Stockholm.

Barometern – Article about "Rumproligt", Öland. (Name misspelled in print.)

■ Contact

vetroal.se/bio 296 hp · 11 universities · 858 .py · 2039 .stl · 1600+ GPU hours