Celebrating Glass: Ten Years on Bermondsey Street 13 September - 5 October 2019 Exhibition Catalogue
Our previous gallery, although an incredible space with wonderful natural light was hard to find, situated on the second floor of a warehouse way off the beaten track. The move to Bermondsey Street where large glass doors lead to a white walled gallery space with the view of the furnace has made us much more accessible. Nowadays our visitors are not only those who used to seek us but also many are newcomers to glass and are amazed by our makers and the beautiful works of art on display in the gallery. As a gallery we are passionate about glass as an artistic medium. Through the exciting programme of themed exhibitions and artist showcases over the last ten years, we have featured some of the finest glass artists from around the world, from luminaries to emerging artists. In this exhibition we celebrate work by Peter Layton, his impressive team of resident artists and the special invited guests who have played a particularly important part in the story of London Glassblowing over the last ten years. Each artist has expressed themselves through this magical medium in a different way, creating a diverse and spectacular array of work. We feel there is no better way to celebrate our successful move ten years ago to our wonderful home on Bermondsey Street! Cathryn Shilling, Exhibition Curator
Exhibiting Artists Anthony Scala Bruce Marks Cathryn Shilling Colin Reid David Reekie Elliot Walker Hanne Enemark Heike Brachlow James Devereux Jochen Ott Katherine Huskie Laura McKinley Layne Rowe Liam Reeves
Lola Lazaro Hinks Louis Thompson & Sophie Thomas Matthew Grant Morten Klitgaard Nick Mount Peter Layton Richard Jackson Sally Fawkes Sarah Wiberley Sila Yucel Steve Hobbs Tim Rawlinson Vezzini & Chen
Auri Freeblown with precious metal leaf D4 - D13 cm £500 - £1,200 Photo: Ester Segarra
Anthony Scala
Particle Opalescent cast and hot glass, laminated H23 x W15 x D15 cm ÂŁ15,000 Photo: Ester Segarra
Bruce Marks
Birds Freeblown glass Left: H40 x W14 x D14 cm Right: H43 x W16 x D16 cm £1,000 each. £1,900 pair. Photo: Alick Cotterill
Fish Freeblown glass and wheel carved H36 x W12 x D12 cm £950 Photo: Ester Segarra
Cathryn Shilling
Consonance Diptych Kilnformed glass with metal H40 x W50 x D10 cm ÂŁ3,500 each. ÂŁ7,000 pair. Photo: Ester Segarra
Colin Reid
Battuto Vessel Cast Glass H6 x W46 x D46 cm £8,100 Photo: Colin Reid
Still Life with Corn Cast Glass H46 x W52 x D10 cm £17,550 Photo: Colin Reid
David Reekie Temptation of Lies IV Lost Wax Cast Glass and Pate De Verre H36 x W39 x D32 cm £10,500 Photo: David Reekie
Elliot Walker Contortionist Hotsculpted Glass Left: H17 x W17 x D6 cm Right: H32 x W8 x D8 cm £2,000 each Photo: Ester Segarra
Psycho-physical Geography Hotsculpted Glass H66 x W8 x D8 cm £7,000 each Photo: Ester Segarra
Hanne Enemark Laws of Motion Sargasso, half sphere - Left Blown glass with gold lustred glass module H9 x W13 x D13 cm ÂŁ550 Laws of Motion, Bronze, ellipse - Right Blown glass with gold lustred glass module H14 x W19 x D19 cm ÂŁ650 Photo: Ester Segarra
Heike Brachlow
Aqua Cast Glass H28 x W30 x D28 cm £8,500 Photo: Ester Segarra
Jackson Fawkes
Two Views III Cast Glass H73.5 x W46 x D10 cm £12,150 Photo: Richard Jackson Right Photo: Ian Berry Magnum Photos
James Devereux
Clovis Aqua and Grey Hotsculpted glass H74 x W55 x D16 cm £11,000 Photo: Simon Bruntnell
Jochen Ott
Clear Halcyon Cut polished and carved optical glass H40 x W17 x D10 cm ÂŁ4,900 Photo: Ester Segarra
Katherine Huskie
Echinus in Cobalt Blown glass with trails H20 x W20 x D20 cm ÂŁ2,000 Also available in Gold and Rauch Topaz Photo: Red Forge Photography
Laura McKinley
Childlike Abandon Representational Images Free blown glass, bronze and found object ÂŁ1,050 each Photo: Ester Segarra
Layne Rowe
Extra Large Quill & Ink Hotsculpted glass H70 x W20 x D20 cm £4,200 Photo: Ester Segarra Quill & Ink Group Hotsculpted glass H32 x W8 x D8 cm each £675 each. £3,000 for group. Photo: Ester Segarra
Liam Reeves
Left - Polychromatic Interleave 006 Freeblown glass H52 x W25 x D11 cm £3,400 Middle - Polychromatic Interleave 008 Freeblown glass H37 x W26 x D17 cm £3,400 Right - Polychromatic Interleave 009 Freeblown glass H50 x W24 x D10 cm £3,400 Photos: Sylvain Deleu
Lola Lazaro Hinks
Echo Cast glass and steel H32 x W30 x D30 cm ÂŁ6,000 Photo: Alick Cotterill
Louis Thompson & Sophie Thomas
Ocean Hourglass - Broken Ocean Series Freeblown glass with waste glass, ocean debris and sand H24 - 32cm (7 available) ÂŁ1,450 each Photo: Ester Segarra Image below from Sophie Thomas' sketchbook
Matthew Grant Contour Line Jug and Glasses Freeblown glass with cane work Glasses: H10 x W8 x D8 cm Jug: H15 x W10 x D8 cm £380 for six glasses £110 for jug
Contour Line Pendant Light Freeblown glass with cane work H12 x W22 x D22 cm £425
Contour Line Series Bowl Freeblown glass with cane work H13 x W27 x D27 cm £740 Photos: Ester Segarra
Morten Klitgaard Oro Freeblown and hotsculpted H40 x W30 x D30 cm £4,200 each. £12,000 for group. Photo: Sylvain Deleu
Nick Mount Still Life with Bosc and Nut Blown glass, granulare murrini, carved, polished, assembled, Olive wood stems & Blackwood base. H47 x W49 x D23 cm ÂŁ7,100
Scent Bottle Group Blown glass, murrini, surface worked, assembled. H46 - 57 x W10 - 16 x D10 - 12cm ÂŁ2,875 each Photo: Pippy Mount
Peter Layton
Can't See the Wood for the Trees Freeblown and etched glass H27 x W67 x D30 as set £2,350 Photo: Ester Segarra
Richard Jackson
From Past Memory XII Pale gold vertical cast glass form with internal veils, polished with carved detail H72 x W32 x D12 cm ÂŁ12,690 Photo: Richard Jackson Photo right: Sally Fawkes
Sally Fawkes
Eternal Exchange X Cast, cold-worked, sandblasted, mirrored, painted optical glass H36.5 x W12.5 x D9 cm ÂŁ6,480 Photo: Richard Jackson
Sarah Wiberley
Bermondsey Street Hues Freeblown glass with sandblasted detail Left: H12 x W18 x D18 cm Centre: H25 x W12 x D12 cm Right: H16 x W16 x D16 cm £1,080 - £1,200 Photo: Ester Segarra
Sila Yücel Cube Set 3D prints, cast glass H7 x W7 x D7 cm £875 each. £1,500 pair. Photo: Ester Segarra
Steve Hobbs Golden and Silver Leaf Bowls Freeblown with metal leaf H14 x W13 x D13 cm £360 each Photo: Ester Segarra
Jellyfish Hotsculpted Glass L: H15 x W7 x D7 cm M: H12 x W6 x D6 cm R: H15 x W6.5 x D5 cm £600 each Photo: Ester Segarra
Echoes of Light Freeblown glass, cut and polished H25 x W25 x D12 cm £3,000 Photo: Ester Segarra
Tim Rawlinson Liquid Light Freeblown glass, cast, cut and polished H20 x W31 x D15 cm £4,500 Photo: Ester Segarra
Vezzini & Chen
Gem Lights Freeblown glass and porcelain £620 - £1,830 (S,M,L, XL) Photo: Sylvain Deleu
Gingko Light Porcelain and Brass, G9 LED light bulb H22 x W25 x D9 cm £680 Photo: Sylvain Deleu
A Celebration of Colour: Peter Layton and London Glassblowing Book ÂŁ28 Photo: Ester Segarra
Artist Statements Anthony Scala This year marks Anthony's 20th year anniversary at London Glassblowing. His collection 'Auri' is derived from the Latin word 'Aurum' meaning 'Gold. Each of the spherical, blown glass vessels contain a different type of pure gold leaf: red gold, white gold and yellow gold. The spherical nature of the thickly blown vessel forms creates an unusual optical illusion, whereby the gold leaf appears to be suspended at the centre of each sphere by an unseen force. Bruce Marks Bruce, London Glassblowing's studio manager, is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the conception of his 'Bird' series; achieving deceptively simple abstract forms, which allude to bird shapes. This series has been hugely successful and its evolu-
tion has attracted an avid and enthusiastic public following. He says: “I am a long-time admirer of the sculptor Brancusi. I envy his ability to capture the essence of his subject, creating a purity of form with minimal detail, whilst projecting profound presence.” Bruce’s response has been to strip back his forms, to achieve an exquisite simplicity. Bruce has revisited a favourite series, named Fish. The fish are a slight departure from the restrained colour use on the birds and employ a technique similar to battuto; revealing the inner colour and allowing light to pass through. Cathryn Shilling Cathryn became our curator at London Glassblowing in 2010. Her time here coincides with her own professional practice as a glass artist. She mostly uses
glass cane, to create woven glass cloth. The canes are made by pulling molten glass into fine rods of a few millimetres thick. She uses a painstaking process to bring these rods together in multiple layers, then fuses them in the kiln until they resemble sheets of woven fabric. In her series 'Consonance', sheets of glass cloth are re-fired and shaped while hot by moulding, bending or draping, to become three-dimensional free-standing sculptures. Colin Reid Colin is regarded as a pioneer in the field of kilncast glass. He is considered to be one of the most outstanding sculptors working in glass. Linking threads that inspire his work are strong influences of nature, which are revealed through the illusory optical effects and multiple reflections
that he achieves within his highly polished work. A new development is his use of strata of rich strong colour between layers of clear glass. On these pieces, Colin has added extensive cold work including 'battuto' cutting. One of these pieces was recently acquired by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
tinually through the media and politics to make decisions about what is good and what is evil and what is the truth and what is a lie'.
tion of the internal environment and to imply its unavoidably abstract nature. As a student of psychology, I believe that our understanding of the mind, and Elliot Walker its true effects on the body, are Elliot's body of work brings toderived from mostly theoretical gether two themes that he has constructs, leaving the objective been concerned with over the past truth open to interpretation.' 6 years. The representation of the figure has always been a strong Hanne Enemark David Reekie aspect of his work, and his prima- In her series 'Laws of Motion', David's work is influenced by ry focus has been in its external Hanne is inspired by Newton's man's reaction and adaptation to composition; treating the glass as three laws. the society in which he lives. 'We a surface to sculpt, rather than a live in a world that grows more material with accessible depth. "A body at rest will remain at rest, complex and difficult to compre- His previous still life series have and a body in motion will remain hend, with its tensions and temp- explored the internal structure of in motion unless it is acted upon tations that pulls us in different glass and its ability to interpret by an external force." directions.' These conflicts provide the inside of fruits and flesh whilst ideas from which he creates char- using the profiles of other objects "The force acting on an object is acters and situations that provide to create a familiar context and equal to the mass of that object him with a constant source of format.In his new series he has times its acceleration." material for his work. In his pieces, used the abstracted profile to 'The Temptation of Lies', he looks create a window into a supposed "For every action, there is an equal at the manipulation of the truth or imagined landscape, utilising and opposite reaction.� and how society is laced with mis- the depth and transparency of conceptions and downright lies. the material. 'I was interested in Newton’s three laws have been 'We are being manipulated concreating a less literal representaverified by countless experiments
over the past three centuries, and they are still being widely used to this day to describe the kinds of objects and speeds that we encounter in everyday life. Heike Brachlow Heike's work explores the interaction of colour, form and light in glass solids. She aims to make forms capable of transformation, ideally in several different ways. Her main focus is the investigation of transparent colour in glass. Aqua is based on a concept called D-form, a three-dimensional form created by joining the edges of two flat shapes with the same perimeter length. Results are wildly different depending on at which point the shapes are joined. She has been exploring these shapes since 2015; they have been changing slowly, elongating, thinning.
late thought provoking journeys for the senses. 'Two Views' explores two individual understandings. Observing from one side, then the other, returning backwards and forwards, one becomes aware of differences and similarities, both subtle and acute. There is then a third understanding, that of the two combined. A solid space between the two opposite overlapping opaque outer planes offers a passage between the two adding further dimensions to the possibilities of outcomes and interactions. In addition interacting mirrored planes lead into the unknown; the possibilities extend.
James Devereux The Clovis Collection is the result of laboured experiments by James to literally chip hot glass like stone. After perfecting this unusual technique, Devereux produces Jackson Fawkes breathtaking results, monolithic Richard Jackson and Sally Fawkes objects with smooth lines that are in collaboration create command- juxtaposed with fractured edges. ing objects that integrate concept Creating these pieces in subtle and material mastery and stimu- tones places the focus on the tex-
ture and form of each article. Jochen Ott Jochen works with glass as a sculptor would with stone; exploring what the material wants to say. His current body of work focuses on the exquisite material qualities of optical glass. The viewer is encouraged to interact with the material by changing their position and viewpoint to see the work anew. The making process includes labour intensive techniques that are very personal and include taking a hammer and chisel to the glass to achieve the raw effects. His use of strong yet delicate colour explores the effect that a change of shade or hue may have on the mood of the beholder. Katherine Huskie Katherine Huskie is a glass blower and designer based in Wiltshire. The Echinus series came from her love of manipulating hot glass and the tactile qualities of it. Each pieces has a uniqueness because
the trails are added individually and then manipulated using tools. The physical act of sculpting the hot glass gives a playful element to their creation. Viewers often want to touch the work and this resonates with the sea urchin shells and the want to touch and hold them, it also links to the dangers of touching sea urchins and the fragility of glass. Laura McKinley Laura's goblets are inspired by a 16th Century Bavarian drinking game glass. Drinking games were popular in many European countries at this time and special objects were made to promote alcohol consumption in a social and playful manner. When consuming alcohol the tendency is to revert back to a childlike state and it is this that has inspired her intriguing and playful drinking goblets. Layne Rowe Layne's Feathers and Quill and Ink sets are inspired by a poem written by Sana Olivia Hernandez.
The five feather quills each symbolise a different figure. A raven's feather, dipping into black ink, symbolises a mourner writing of death. The hen’s feather, brown with a white top, writes with pink ink symbolising a mother writing of love. An eagle feather, writes in red ink resembling a soldier using the enemy’s blood to write of war. The blue feather of a phoenix, with multicoloured ink, used by the artist to imagine a wonderful world. Finally, a swan feather, held by a beauty writing in dazzling white ink of this repulsive world.
rication, Reeves uses advanced glassmaking techniques as ‘layers’, ‘filters’ and ‘tools’ in order to fabricate objects that are planned and constructed in a manner that is analogous with current and future modes of design and production. The intention is to ultimately use the ancient process of glassblowing to create works that are specifically born of a mode of thinking that can only come from the here and now of the 21st century.
Lola Lazaro Hinks Lola explores that which appears Liam Reeves invisible to our perception, or Liam has always been interested outside our realm of visual experiin the evolution of technology and ence. Glass directly engages with the impact and effect that this has our visual perception, altering the on human experience. For this way we view and interact with our body of work, Reeves has adopted external world. This is used within the methodology of computer many fields to hone the characteraided design applications in oristics of transparency and transder to impose and apply a set mittance; in architecture to create of instructions for the analogue a dialogue between internal and process of making blown glass. external space, within science to To utilize the language associated visually open up worlds otherwise with digital projection and fabunseen, and in technology, for
the transmission of information across distances. Within her work the material itself is the focus, used in conjunction with space to create an illusionary realm of added dimension. The use of clear glass and curvature are combined to explore this part of its materiality; its ability to transmit visible light. In doing so, she hopes to engage with our deepest connection to light and darkness and our relationship to space itself, essentially exploring the very way we visually perceive. Louis Thompson and Sophie Thomas Marine litter is one of the clearest symbols of a resource inefficient economy. Around 90% of the world’s rubbish that floats around our oceans is plastic. By 2050 there may be more plastic in the oceans than the mass of finfish. Every part of our planet is suffering from human impact. The time has run out for complacency. Using images of fragments of plastic swirling around the ocean
gyres as inspiration these pieces use waste glass fragments to illustrate their chaos and intrusion into the natural environment. The pieces represent the continual challenge of the colossal flow of plastic pollution that runs into our seas - currently a rubbish truckload a minute. They represent a horrific future that our Anthropocene age threatens to leave behind if we do nothing about our dependency on plastic and its easy disposability. Broken Ocean received the 2019 Collect Open Award. Matthew Grant ‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful,’ William Morris. For his Contour Line series, Matthew draws on his love of maps. Contour lines – the cartographical representation of our landscape – clearly serve important practical purposes, but they also have a beguiling beauty and charm of their own. The mesmerising patterns formed by these
contour lines draw the viewer deeper into the map's landscape, and – before you know it – you’re looking at a vanished world (an ancient hill fort, a disused railway line) as well as the present world of the here-and-now. Is it really too fanciful to imagine that you can travel through time – as well as space – with the aid of maps? Matthew has reflected the beautiful patterns of these lines in glass. William Morris’s dictum about the useful and the beautiful is a guiding principle. After a career in teaching, Matthew Grant joined London Glassblowing as a trainee and now works here as an assistant. Morten Klitgaard A significant loss of control is evident in Morten's latest glass objects. He explores and pushes the boundaries of the visual expression of glass by subjecting the surfaces of his objects to experimental treatments. The large black volume of glass is blown into a mould. The added texture
combines with the matt/glossy character of the surface to create an organic surface. 'My passion and deep respect for glass guides me through technical and creative processes, often leading me into extensive experiments.' In his recent body of work he has been experimenting with removing transparency by creating layers on the surface. 'I have developed a technique to create an almost glaze-like appearance, made of small bubbles that burst during the process, giving the work an extremely porous surface.' He applies different oxides onto the surface during the last heating, turning it into a patina. This results in the surface looking aged, almost weatherbeaten. The patinated colors appearing are achieved by metal in the glass color. A reaction occurs and these metallic pigments give a unique depth and pattern to each piece. Nick Mount Nick's Scent Bottles are an evolving series of sculptural as-
semblages. His work pays homage to the powerful traditions and techniques of the history of hand working in hot glass and the contemporary statement it makes through its concentration on more sculptural concerns and compositions. His work is grounded on the value and importance of hand working in the development of identity and the ability to be innovative. The versatility of the material and the elaborate processes involved in shaping it are reflected in the gesture and texture of these objects.
playful response to the current ongoing crisis in Britain is to be found in the title of his contribution to this exhibition, 'Can't see the wood for the trees'.
Richard Jackson An impression, a question, an idea, are the starting points for Richard Jackson’s work. He records impressions of things and concerns he experiences through drawing, writing and photography, and these are the source for his sculptures. Working with words, the title for a piece emerges, then with modelling and purposeful Peter Layton drawing as a visual assemblage Peter is the founder and Artistic of his findings; the form emergDirector of London Glassblowing, es. The form is the signifier and whose modest beginnings in an layers of mark making provide a old towage works on the banks of language; notational, gestural, the Thames in Rotherhithe have rhythmically textural, or a few long been superseded. Now, some large calligraphic strokes. The four decades later, celebrating ten resulting work expresses his findmemorable years in its present ings. Forms with subtle changing wonderful location on Bermond- curves, complex volumes and fine sey Street and having assumed edges allude to the complexity he the mantle of a 'crafts institution', sees in the world. Surface treatand indeed an urban rarity, Peter's ment, which varies the degree of
transparency and mark making, hint at layers of language and the history and information both lost and known that our world is full to overflowing with.
invite you to immerse yourself in the complex realm of what you see, what you think you see and so what is potential.
reimagining them in a new material. Deliberately creating familiar shapes, geometry in its purest form is essential, leaving little room for error. The challenge of achieving perfection becomes an ongoing journey in her practice. Her cube set is a continuation of her curiosity with intense gradients of colour in a physical and translucent form, an expansion of her visual ideas within graphic design work.'Using 3D modelling programme 'Sketch Up', I created three different models. When each was cast twice and placed together they form a precise cube. Each piece is then cold-worked before marrying all components together for the finished piece.'
Sarah WIberley Sally Fawkes Bermondsey Street is an incredibly The foundation of Sally’s explovibrant place, in its architecture rations have always been the as well as it's residents. It would concept of complexity and the be difficult to walk up and down notion that everything is part of Bermondsey Street without notica continuous sensitive system of ing the colour of the buildings, the interactions. She studies the inter- whole area is saturated with difactions of the visible and invisible ferent hues. It is this vibrancy that possibilities of space, the place Sarah wanted to capture. Drawn where the physically apparent and from a series of interconnectthe intangible meet, the place ing lines; a simple and basic grid where all is potential. Her ‘Eternal formation, three colours interact Exchange’ series has evolved from and weave together lines and her voyages, experiences of earth- shapes, with an endless amount of ly, unearthly places. The spaces variation creating unique patterns occupied by mirror on polished within the glass. Steve Hobbs curved planes open up new diSteve first visited London Glassmensions that seemingly were not Sila Yücel blowing when he was given a there before, sometimes partially Sila is an emerging artist with a glass blowing class as part of a obscured by delicate rhythmical background in graphic design. birthday gift. 'It was an amazing scoring engraved on highly polInspired by the bold colours, experience! I was immediately ished flat surfaces. The Latin word smooth gradients and sharp edges entranced by the heat, the drafor mirror, ‘speculum’ gives us the of the digital world, she approach- ma and the magic of hot glass verb 'to speculate'. Her sculptures es making with the concept of and 16 years later I am still here!'
In recent years his knowledge and skills have improved. He has developed his own unique pieces inspired by themes and interests that he feels passionate about. The ‘jellyfish’ series are made by sculpting hot glass, carefully encapsulating a marine like creature into the centre of a solid piece of glass. The blown pieces combine precious metals such as gold and silver that are carefully placed on to the surface of the glass and then blown to create unique patterns. 'Glassblowing is incredibly challenging, but it remains one of the most rewarding things I have ever done and I still enjoy it.' Tim Rawlinson On a trip to Japan, Tim observed the interaction between light and water, in particular the vast neon structures reflecting in the ripples; a phenomena that is never static but fluid. The refractive qualities in his sculptures flow in and out of each other as your viewpoint changes; desiring viewer interaction, with the optical interplay
between glass and light revealing itself. One of humanity’s tendencies is to attempt to give order and form where there is none. For instance how we arrange stars into constellations. This desire to give form to chaos is an expression of our imagination. Tim's work invites the viewer to look beyond what is apparent and to search for the unknown. Through casting blown glass components, he captures the quality of ink spreading into water; achieved when the glass is molten, with the flow suspended as the glass cools, producing a moment frozen in time. The interior becomes a painting, a composition in layers, light and refraction. Vezzini & Chen Vezzini & Chen’s work is defined by the artful marriage of hand carved ceramics and blown glass. The collections tread a fine line between functional and conceptual, with the design duo creating sculptural hand crafted lighting and installation pieces. Vezzini &
Chen bring these two aesthetic worlds together, combining fluid forms with intricate detail, repetition, texture and geometry. Light plays a central role within the work, the designers drawing on their experience of diving, seeing the refraction of light underwater and its reflections on coral and marine life. Inspired by Gingko leaves, the wall light is the latest wall light created by the duo. Ginkgo, a distinctive flat-leafed tree from China, is the namesake and clear inspiration for this wall light. Each 'leaf' is carved from thin porcelain, which diffuses light delicately whilst playing with shadows. Gingko wall light is created by 3 hand carved porcelain leaves and a bespoke brass fitting.