VisitExhibitions2017

An exhibition of combined works by Matthew Curtis and Harriet Schwarzrock –  partners in glass and life. Defining moments in this couple’s careers in Australian contemporary studio glass will be explored and told through their works, images, photographs and stories.  The exhibition will include works created by Matthew Curtis during his Creative Fellowship at Canberra Glassworks in 2015.  Harriett Schwarzrock’s work will include her new work in Neon, inspired by the Neon Workshop she did at Canberra Glassworks in 2016.

Image: Harriet Schwarzrock, a confluence, 2017, blown glass, stainless steel. Photo by Adam McGrath.

Tom Rowney and Zeljko Markov, an exhibition that explores concepts of highly skilled making, form, finish and thought. Both of these artists’ reference traditional forms and techniques within their chosen medium, glass (Rowney) and furniture (Markov), bowls and shelves for example, however their practice extends well beyond this. Each element, line, curve and piece is considered and developed, creating form and function so refined that the most subtle intersection or plane will melt into the next.  This exhibition showcases two great artists who skills and sensibility makes them frontrunners in the production of the design classics of the future.

Zeljko Markov lives and works near Canberra, where he has kept an independent studio practice since 1997. During the last eighteen years, he has held many solo exhibitions in Australia, and has contributed to numerous group exhibitions and collaborative projects in Europe, Asia and America as well as Australia and New Zealand. Whilst best known for his work based on ideas surrounding furniture, Zeljko works in a broad range of disciplines and mediums.

Tom Rowney is one of Australia’s foremost glass blowers and has great passion for creating contemporary glass forms utilizing the precision and accuracy of techniques developed by the Venetian masters. Tom continues to be sourced for both his teaching and glassblowing skills by the leading glass studios and artists in Australia and overseas. He exhibits his personal artwork both nationally and internationally.

Image: Zeljko Markov, 32 (I), 2017. Photo by Adam McGrath.

The term chandelier originated in the English language around 1736 and comes from the French candelabra meaning candlestick. Prior to this, chandeliers and various hanging lights had been known by other names, especially the word lustre, a usage which spread across Europe. However, by the eighteenth century ‘chandelier’ was used by most of the world to describe any decorative light fixture suspended from the ceiling incorporating two or more candles or electric lamps.

This exhibition featured 7 chandeliers from 9 artists.

Artists: Christine Atkins, Ngaio Fitzpatrick, Jacqueline Knight, Kate Nixon, Scott Chaseling, Tom Rowney & Wendy Dawes, John & Ruth White.

Photo: Wendy Dawes & Tom Rowney, Bush light, 2017, blown glass, copper, wood, LED lighting. Photo by Adam McGrath.

Established in 2016, the Prize recognizes excellence and promotes appreciation of the world-class artists working in glass who live and practice in the ACT and region. Presented by Canberra Glassworks, the Hindmarsh Prize has been initiated by generous arts patron Mr John Hindmarsh AM, Executive Chairman of Hindmarsh. The prize recognizes all aspects of contemporary glass art, from works drawing inspiration from the beauty of age old traditions to those which explore the widest interpretations of a contemporary sculptural language.

2017 Winner: Scott Chaseling

Finalists: Alexandra Chambers, Annette Blair, Brian Corr, Catherine Newton, Erin Conron, Hannah Gason, Harriet Schwarzrock, Jenni Martinelli, Jeremy Lepisto, John White, Kirstie Rea, Lisa Cahill, Mel Douglas, Peter Nilsson, Richard Whiteley, Rose-Mary Faulkner, Scott Chaseling, Tom Rowney, Yusuke Takemura

Curator: Grace Blakely Carroll

Judging Panel:
Dr Gerard Vaughan AM, Director, National Gallery of Australia,
Eva Czernis-Ryl, Curator Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences,
Ewan McEoin, The Hugh Williamson Senior Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture,
Jane Cush, Artistic Director, Canberra Glassworks
Rebecca Evans, Fine Arts Curator, Art Gallery of South Australia,

Image: Scott Chaseling, Adrift, 2017, cut glass construction. Photo by Adam McGrath.

Ayano Yoshizumi is the second Asialink Artist in Residence to be hosted by Canberra Glassworks from Toyama Glass Studio, Japan. She graduated from the Toyama Institute of Glass Art/Glass Certification Studies Programs in 2016 and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Interior, Craft Design (2014). Yoshizumi has done various workshops at Toyama Institute of Glass Art in recent
years, working with the likes of Keke Cribbs, Therman Statom, Martin Janecky and Adrianne Evans. Selected for a number of awards, Yoshizumi won the Takaoka Craft Competition and the Toyama Institute of Glass Art Best Student Prize in 2016. She has exhibited at the Art Fair Toyama, 2016, Toyama Institute of Glass Art Graduation Work exhibition in 2016, New Year Competition at the Azabujuban Gallery, 2014, and the Musashino Art University Graduation Work exhibition, 2014. Her work is held in the Toyama Institute of Glass Art and at the Toyama Excel Hotel Tokyu in Japan. During the reciprocal residency, Yoshizumi developed her conceptual art work, continuing to explore the influence of Fauvism and her response to Australian culture during her stay.

Image: Ayano Yoshizumi, installation view, 2017, blown glass. Photo courtesy of Canberra Glassworks.

Neil Roberts (1954 – 2002) trained as a glassblower in the early 1980s but quickly evolved his practice to sculpture, often combining glass with other materials. He was fascinated with the vulnerable quality of glass and frequently invited fracture and repair into his processes of making. This exhibition focuses on Roberts’ interest in arenas of masculinity such as the boxing ring, gymnasium, farmyard and urban gangland. The tension between violence and tenderness he observed in such arenas found expression through his chancy collaborations with the glass medium.

Curator: Barbara Campbell

Image: Neil Roberts, One Man’s Eyes, 1988, glass, metal object. Photo by Adam McGrath.

Home is a very loaded word that can mean many things to different people: warmth; love; shelter; haven; personal space to name a few. In this exhibition, I asked artists to respond to a place that is very familiar to them; one where they spend much of their waking time. Canberra Glassworks, previously known as the Kingston Powerhouse can accommodate 15 artists working in their own studios and at any one time 20 other artists might be working in the facility – in the hotshop; coldworking; sandblasting or using the kilns. The heritage building has been internally converted to be a working glass facility, one of the few in Australia. It has an international reputation for excellence and quality resources alongside several gallery spaces and a retail space. The artists in this exhibition all have an affinity with the building and the facility, and the works in the exhibition show the diverse way they feel about their sometimes fiery Home Away from Home. You can find their works scattered throughout the building in sites that they have responded to.

– Jane Cush, curator

Home is Where the Heat is, toured to Wagga Wagga Art Gallery from 27 January – 22 April 2017.

Image: Ngaio Fitzpatrick, Glass Mandala, 2017, glass, steel. Photo by Adam McGrath.