Artist Statement
I find glass as seductive as it is challenging.As a particularly unforgiving medium glass either painfully or delightfully reflects an artist’s vision in designing for its unique properties and their skill in executing work.I’ve always been captivated by how glass can hold elements in suspension, bend light, and layer color in three dimensions and the process of working with it in its liquid state.
My current work is an intensive exploration of detailed patterns, colors and transparency created through multi-layered cane and murrine-coloured rods and patterned cross-sections of glass.Creating my work begins with meticulous planning and designing for blowing it.I enjoy this process of thoughtful creativity and the contrasting intensity of executing it in the hotshop, where the limited window to shape molten glass requires precision and urgency.The dual challenge of designing and executing complex work definitely satisfies both the artist and the craftsman in me and I continually find it exciting to create a piece I’ve poured days over, watching it come to life in the fire.
While varied in composition, I most often create work within a series of graceful forms which I consider three dimension canvases.The diversity and variation in my work reflects my desire to explore a variety of ideas simultaneously.Some visual themes that recur include windows with views into or through a piece, contrasting transparency and solidity and disrupted repetition.Colors in contrasting and/or complimentary tertiary tones woven into complex patterns challenge expectations of the amount of detail glass can carry and its place in the art world.My indirect influences include textiles, ethnically distinct colors and shapes as well as the marine environment.
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