Catching the Light
Divergence, Yoshiko Okada
The Lake District’s Arts and Crafts gem, Blackwell, finishes the year off with an exhibition of contemporary glass (until 3 January)
Catching the Light: Contemporary Glass is co-curated by glass artist Alison Kinnaird and Blackwell’s own Kathy Haslam. The show’s been designed to contrast with Blackwell’s recent exhibition of historic Blackfriars glass and is consequently very contemporary. It’s also quite technique-based as Haslam wants to underline the technological differences between the two shows. She says, ‘Technique had such an impact on glass making in the 20th century and I wanted to show how this impacted on it in the early 21st century as well.’
The general theme is how glass interacts with light, exploring how different makers come up with different responses to light. Haslam says she asked Kinnaird to be involved in the show as ‘she gives us an insider’s eye’. There’s work by Kinnaird herself – which is illuminated from within – shown alongside Vanessa Cutler’s water-jet cut pieces that she enhances by manipulating natural and artificial light. Other makers include Anthony Scala, who’s showing a group of his scent bottles and refractive sculptures, and Alison McConachie who adds an extra visual dimension to her blown glass vessels with layers of gold and silver leaf.
www.blackwell.org.uk
