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The FUSE Glass Prize finalists will come to Canberra Glassworks in an exhibition that showcases the skill and creativity of glass making today. The Prize is a non-acquisitive biennial prize for Australian and New Zealand glass artists and the richest in Australasia. It provides a platform for artists to push themselves and their work to new limits and focuses public attention on the importance of glass as a medium for contemporary artistic expression.

The winner of the FUSE Glass Prize will receive a cash prize of AU$20,000. In addition, the winner of the David Henshall Emerging Artist Prize will receive AU$2,500 cash and a professional development opportunity at JamFactory valued at a further AU$2,500.

Curated by JamFactory

Image: 2022 FUSE Prize Winner, Matthew Curtis, Margin, 2022. Photo by Rob Little for the artist.

Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre, Greater Dandenong Victoria

Gabriella Bisetto, Cobi Cockburn, Nadege Desgenetez, Mel Douglas, Rose-Mary Faulkner, Nicholas Folland, Kirstie Rea, Harriet Schwarzrock, Brendan Van Hek and Annie Cattrell (UK)

Launching in Victoria exclusive to Dandenong, Upending Expectations: Contemporary Glass celebrates a diverse range of artists whose experimental, innovative and at times cross-disciplinary practice, utilises glass and its properties of light, transparency and reflection.

Curated by Frances Lindsay AM and produced by Canberra Glassworks, Upending Expectations: Contemporary Glass is scheduled to tour from 2022 to 2024 supported by the Australian Council for the Arts through the Contemporary Touring Initiative.

Image: Gabriella Bissetto, Cell Structure 2#, 2021, blown, hot sculpted and chemically bonded glass, mirror, steel. Photo by Eliza Britton for Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre.

Glassworks Foyer & Smokestack

In response to the unique space of the Smokestack Gallery, Consuelo Cavaniglia will use reflection, refraction and light to create an immersive installation based on her research into colour and optics. Sheets of variously coloured glass will float seamlessly in the space. As individual sheets, the glass forms a field of one colour, but multiple sheets hung together challenge our understanding of sight, colour, space and scale. This work explores the boundaries of reality and illusion, suggesting that our understanding of forms and spaces is tied to perception. This work was developed through a residency held in 2022 at Canberra Glassworks, which allowed her to explore the use of handmade glass for the first time.

Consuelo Cavaniglia has received support from Create NSW and Australia Council for the Arts for this exhibition.

Image: Consuelo Cavaniglia work in progress during her residency at Canberra Glassworks in early 2022.

Glassworks main gallery

Canberra based artist Hannah Gason will create a body of new work that continues Gason’s series looking
at colour, light and pattern. Wall and floor works will consist of small tiles arranged to form patterns that
play with repetition and disruption. Each flat tile is unique and through careful arrangement, the subtle
tonal differences give the impression of depth. The final compositions suggest a constantly moving, changing surface.

Jacqueline Bradley

Jacqueline Bradley makes sculptures, installations and assemblages that investigate our physical and visceral relationships to the outdoors. Bradley is both a maker and an observer. Her beautifully crafted objects are used to create installations that explore the complexity of these connections.

In this exhibition, the works act as a root system planting themselves within the gallery, spreading in many directions as they2022 CGW the tender catalogue lead the viewer through the space. The story starts in late summer and continues through into early spring to complete a single seasonal cycle. Bradley uses the peach and other stone fruit as a symbol to consider the phases of growing, feeding, and rotting.

the tender refers to flesh both human and fruit, engaging our senses of sight, smell, and touch. This bodily association provides links not only to fertility but also how we experience beauty, kindness, and pleasure.

This new body of work was developed as part of the Artist in Residence program at Canberra Glassworks in 2021-22, which is supported by the Australia Council for the Arts.

In association with Aquifer, Feb – May 2022, A Territory-wide program of dialogue, events and exhibitions responding to the current climate crisis.

Curated by Aimee Frodsham.

Image: Jacqueline Bradley, Two Peaches, 2021, glass and peaches. Photo by Brenton McGeachie for the artist.

Gabriella Bisetto, Cobi Cockburn, Nadege Desgenetez, Mel Douglas, Rose-Mary Faulkner, Nicholas Folland, Jonathan Jones, Kirstie Rea, Harriet Schwarzrock, Brendan Van Hek and Annie Cattrell (UK)

As the title Upending Expectations: Contemporary Glass implies, the focus of this exhibition is on artists whose experimental, innovative and at times cross-disciplinary practice, utilises glass and its properties of light, transparency and reflection, through a diverse range of approaches. The selection of artists has come from this strong rationale and includes ten Australian artists; Gabriella Bisetto, Cobi Cockburn, Nadege Desgenetez, Mel Douglas, Rose-Mary Faulkner, Nicholas Folland, Jonathan Jones, Kirstie Rea, Harriet Schwarzrock and Brendan Van Hek along with international artist Annie Cattrell (UK). The exhibition is scheduled to tour from 2022 to 2024 supported by the Australian Council for the Arts through the Contemporary Touring Initiative.

Curated by Frances Lyndsay AM

Image: Kirstie Rea, Complacent Complicity, 2021, glass, rubber, cement, plinth. Photography by David Paterson.

Annette Blair Glassworks Main Gallery

Artist Annette Blair explores our perception and relationship with everyday objects and how they can hold
memories and meaning beyond their function. A highly skilled glass blower and sculptor, Blair works with hot glass and enamels to recreate familiar everyday things; hand tools, used spray cans, knitting needles and paintbrushes. Assembled into complex installations, she encourages us to look closely at each object amongst the mass and to think about the things we collect and keep and the stories they tell. This exhibition is a visual story that shares a profound sense of nostalgia which looks at how objects can hold meaning while often appearing meaningless.

Annette Blair has received support from artsACT and the Australia Council for the Arts for this exhibition.

Curated by Aimee Frodsham

Image: Annette Blair, On any given day (detail),  hot sculpted, blown and enameled glass. Courtesy of the artist, photo by Adam McGrath.

Kate Nixon Glassworks Smokestack

Sydney based artist Kate Nixon has been invited to create an installation in the Smokestack Gallery in 2022.
This new work is a continuation of Nixon’s series For Collection and will respond to the dramatic space and
scale of the Smokestack. Nixon’s work is playful and painstaking. She is fascinated by the physical experience and repetitive nature of mosaic. Unlike traditional mosaic, Nixon does not rely on pattern and colour, instead she considers the three-dimensional form and utilises the transformative properties of glass, mirror and light. The act of covering every visible surface of garbage bins with mirror mosaic challenges our preconceived notions of preciousness,
domestic obligations and arts and crafts in the home. It also celebrates the hidden but essential routines in
our daily lives. Once modified, the humble rubbish bin becomes a symbol of domestic idealism.

Curated by Aimee Frodsham

Image: Kate Nixon, On Reflection, 2022, found objects, recycled mirror. Courtesy of the artist, photo by Adam McGrath.