1. Tell us about your practice?
I am an applied artist at heart who specialises in glass and ceramics. I combine both materials and I specialise in slip cast ceramics and Foam Glass.
I am a bit of a chameleon in the sense that I haven’t followed a straight path to being a maker but have come to it later on with starts and stops.
I got hooked on glass during an HND in Glass at the City of Glasgow College, which subsequently led to me completing an MFA in Glass at Edinburgh College of Art and now I'm doing a PhD in Glass and Ceramics at Edinburgh College of Art presently.
2. Tell us about your materials and techniques?
My approach to glass is unconventional and dissident, with a good portion of scientific testing thrown into the mix.
This seems at a first glance to contradict itself but the more material knowledge I have the better I can break the rules of traditional making practices. Foam Glass is a somewhat unpredictable volatile material, which is one of the reasons why I love it.
To make it more controllable and the results consistently repeatable a lot of material testing has to happen before making work. This enables me to control the glass and break my own rules of making when I choose to.
3. What inspired the work you are presenting at Collect 2023?
The new Foam Glass collection that I am presenting at Collect 2023 has been developed rom my MFA development and final MFA show. The new work is pushing the material further and is exploring the combination of Foam Glass and slip-cast ceramics as a contrasting element.
4. Tell us about a special detail from this new body of work?
I am showing a colour fade that I have developed especially for this new work. It has pushed my understanding of the material and has a hypnotic effect as the blue subtly changes hue.
5. What do you hope the viewer will take away from this work?
A sense of curiosity and wonder. I hope that the viewer will see a different aspect of glass, one that they might have not seen before.
Foam Glass isn’t as widely known as an art material and challenges traditional perceptions of glass making and glass aesthetics.
