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The exhibition title 'On your metal' was a play on the idiomatic expression 'On your mettle', which usually refers to performance in difficult situations. In this case, the expression referred to my attempt to showcase pieces of glass art, whose conceptualisation, development and construction involved a degree of difficulty for ME(even if this is not readily apparent!) and which involve metal in some form.
The works in this exhibition are 'warm' glass - made from glass that has been fused, slumped or cast in a kiln at about 800 degrees Centigrade. Some pieces are made with metallised glasses and others have metals incorporated as part of the fusing process. Other pieces use found metal objects as an integral part of their construction.
I interposed a few fun pieces for the viewers' enjoyment, such as the 'stitched up' plate, the savannah, freeway and sunrise (reminiscent of my children's' naive attempts at art) plates.
Virtually all of the pieces were intended to be functional and range from small serving plates to large wall decorations.
Some of my favourites were-
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| Title |
Fused panel - 'Just Hold'n Together' |
| Technical |
Car shape cut and fused to base glass using multiple layers for 3D effect. Copper sheet embossed in form of Holden emblem and enclosed in glass. Piece broken and re-assembled with glass frit between pieces and re-fused. Spectrum System 96 glass; Uroboros System 96 frits; copper sheet.
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| Inspiration |
The FJ Holden is an icon to those of my generation for two main reasons. It is the model of car our parents had before we were born (and many of us were probably conceived in the back seat of one). It is also the model of car that many of us owned once we started to drive. But just like the generation to whom it is an icon, the FJ Holden is now aging, cracked but still hanging on - hence the title 'Just Hold'n Together' .
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| Title |
Large Platter - 'Freeway' |
| Technical |
Spectrum System 96 glass, dichroic noodles |
| Inspiration |
Freeways seem to be taking over our cities - engineers cutting into the landscape and sectioning out hills to make the flat carriageways. Once we are on the freeway, it is sometimes difficult to leave - the lane markers beckoning us onward into the distance. |
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| Title |
'Milky Way' |
| Technical |
Spectrum System 96 glass, dichroic frits |
| Inspiration |
If we think we're the centre of the universe, it might be a good idea to take another perspective.
This is our galaxy (looking from outside) and we're insignificant little creatures somewhere on a tiny planet circling a small star somewhere in the middle of it. And the Milky Way is only one of the several billion galaxies in the universe. |
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| Title |
'Melting Pot' |
| Technical |
Aperture pour Spectrum System 96, copper inclusions |
| Inspiration |
A bit like our society should really be - all different sorts of people represented by colours - each unique - but so much more interesting and beautiful as we fold and blend together. |
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| Title |
'Stitched Up Plate' |
| Technical |
Float glass, copper wire |
| Inspiration |
A broken plate brought back together with a metal thread - based on recollections of a construction technique for a boat I never got around to building.
It was one of those things that comes to you in the early hours of the morning and won't let you go back to sleep, what if .... Must give up drinking before going to bed .....
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| Title |
Large Bowl - 'Rainy Day' |
| Technical |
Spectrum glass with copper leaf and palladium inclusions. |
| Inspiration |
In this piece the copper leaf has changed colour to a beautiful watery blue and vapourised creating a myriad of bubbles. The colours, bubbles and pattern make me think of looking outside through a window on a bright but rainy day.
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Please click here to view the full exhibition catalogue
