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Lucy Simpson

18 May to 16 July 2023

Yuwaalaraay wirringgaa Lucy Simpson is Creative Director and Principal Designer/Maker behind Gaawaa Miyay, a First Nations design studio inspired by country, relationships and notions of continuity and exchange. This exhibition is a story of materiality and memory which looks to the glassmaking process to record, absorb, reflect and transform its body as a means by which to translate great periods of upheaval and environmental crisis across river landscapes.

The word Baayangalibiyaay loosely translates to having natural balance within the order of all things in the living world; an exploration of people, place + notions of ‘wellbeing’.

Simpson Focuses on a small collection of very old dhanggal, 60-80 years old or more collected from the dry riverbed which had perished along with more than 2 million others in the Murray Darling Basin between 2017 – 2020 at the height of the NSW drought.
The embedding of materials collected from Bundanon and Lighting Ridge sees each individual shell as a recorder of time and place, specifically connected with extreme events of fire and water. With glass ranging from translucent to opaque, black to white, pure to gritty, this subtle yet striking reflection and collection of memory in / of country connects to moments of immense change and comments on ’the body’ (self and country) as holder of experience + trauma.

This body of work acknowledging country, with pieces created in collaboration with and supported by Canberra Glassworks, Bundanon, Powerhouse Museum, Institute of Modern Art (Brisbane) and the Australian Design Centre.

Curated by Aimee Frodsham

Pictured: Lucy Simpson, artist studio, 2022. Photos by A.Gore for DesignFiles.

26 July – 8 October 2023

Lisa Sammut’s practice encompasses sculpture, light, video and installation. Using a wide range of media, her sculptural works engage the audience with their kinetic charm, focusing on providing feelings of joy and optimism, belonging and timelessness.
Sammut’s recent installations have provided a playful arrangement of light and various materials to reveal magical relationships between ordinary things. Reflecting on the universe, her work loops between the earthly and otherworldly, considering both the
beauty in the minute and the vastness of everything. This exhibition will further explore and expend on these concepts.
Lisa Sammut will undertake a Canberra Glassworks residency in early 2023 to realise these works.

Curated by Aimee Frodsham

Pictured: Lisa Sammut, work in progress (detail) 2022.

26 July – 8 October 2023

Known for her evocative wearable works, Zoe Brand is a jeweller and artist who uses ready-made and text to explore the performative nature of jewellery. In her practice, she uses text displayed unashamedly on the body as a device for communication. She is concerned with finding language that can describe both the object and the person who might wear the piece, breaking down complex emotions into a single word – SAD, worn around the neck for everyone to see.

Brand sees the possibility in mundane, everyday throwaway statements. She collects,examines, removes them from conversation and builds the text into signs. She explains ‘I like to draw upon the ambiguity of language, of the numerous readings and
associations that any one word may possess, as well as how the meaning changes when a work moves from wall to body and back again’. Working in glass for the first time, Brand will build upon her wearable works using glass as well as larger text-based works that interact with the architecture of the building.

Curated by Aimee Frodsham

Pictured: Zoe Brand, Acryllic pendants, 2022. Phot by Marshall Brand for the artist.

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.

Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre Greater Dandenong, Victoria showing from June 2022.

Outback Arts Coonamble, NSW showing 16 March to 26 April 2023.

Pictured: 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.

Tom Rowney

9 March to 7 May 2023

Coming in March 2023, an engaging selection of recent works by the extraordinary glass artist Tom Rowney. With a focus on Venetian traditions, Rowney conjures amazing shapes, textures, and patterns, transforming the everyday into objects of desire. Always pushing boundaries, Rowney is well known for his cones, cups, spheres, and bud vases created with stunning colourings including aventurine green and ruby red. With an eye to bling and frippery, Rowney combines classic elements of glass blowing with enchantment and style. Daring form and structured contemporary shapes are embellished with meticulous fine linework and shimmering texture, pushing the functional into a fluid aesthetic.

Curated by Caroline Field

Pictured: Tom Rowney, Bronze Low Form – Tesserae Series (detail), 2022, blown glass. Photo by Adam McGrath.

Louis Grant, Jessica Murtagh, Madisyn Zabel, Shirley Jianzhen Wu

12 January to 26 February 2023

Net Worth showcases four emerging artists working in glass: Louis Grant, Jessica Murtagh and Madisyn Zabel, Shirley Jianzhen Wu. This exhibition provides a platform for these artists to explore concepts of identity, societal stereotypes, and technology overlayed with history and craftsmanship engrained in glass making. Each provides a unique commentary on today’s expectations of self-worth, perceived worth and financial worth, and how evolving values may guide our future.

Gallery Floor Talk: Saturday 18 February 2023 from 2pm
Join us as we learn about the experimentation, ideas and creations behind our current exhibition in this artist led discussion at Canberra Glassworks.
RSVP

Pictured: Shirley Jianzhen Wu, Xíng ?, 2023, flame worked borosilicate glass, Eucalyptus cneorifolia essential oil, sola wood (Aeschynomene aspera), pine, cotton thread, reed, silicone. Photo by Brenton McGeachie for Canberra Glassworks.