As part of celebrating the Scottish Glass Society’s 40th Anniversary we present Convergence, an exhibition showcasing new work from some of the finest Scottish, British and International artists working in glass today. Vidar Koksvik presents blown glass from Norway, alongside LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize 2019 nominee and Edinburgh College of Art trained Harry Morgan, kiln formed glass from Karlyn Sutherland and a new collaboration from Inge Panneels and photographer Kevin Greenfield.

Meet the Artists – A chance to view the contemporary glass exhibition Convergence and meet Harry Morgan and Inge Panneels on Saturday 21st September, 11 – 12noon. Click here to book.

SGS40-logo_smallest.jpg#asset:195954

Harry Morgan

Born: 1990

Originally from Manchester, Harry Morgan gained a 1st Class BA (Hons) degree in Glass from Edinburgh College of Art in 2014. Since graduating, Harry has exhibited at the 2015 British Glass Biennale in Stourbridge, where he was awarded the London Glassblowing Award for Emerging Talent. Harry currently works from his studio within Custom House Leith, Edinburgh.

Interested in the intrinsic ‘personalities’ of materials and their capacity to represent ideas, Harry’s current work explores the conflicting relationship between concrete and glass:

“Despite being composed of the same elements, glass and concrete appear as conflicting materials. With unclear borders and internal dimension, glass reflects ambiguity and intangibility. In sharp contrast, concrete is brutally physical; the word itself is used to describe absolutes and certainties. Both materials have strong social, cultural and polarised connotations; from the sumptuous history of Venetian glass to the Utopian concrete of post-war Brutalism. The use of glass in my work draws inspiration from the ancient Venetian glassblowing technique, murrine; where each rod or thread of glass is individually pulled by hand from a furnace. The glass is then arranged into a sequential structure and cast within concrete or precious metal, which binds them as one object. I’m interested in applying these traditional skills in alternative directions.” – Harry Morgan, 2017.

Harry was shortlisted and highly commended for the LOEWE Craft Prize 2019.

Harry Morgan‘s work featured in a group exhibition in September 2019 – Convergence.

Vidar Koksvik

Born: 1969

Vidar Koksvik studied glass at The Orrefors Glass School, Sweden and then at Surrey Institute of Art and Design from 1995 – 98. He is one of Norway’s leading lights in contemporary glass and currently works from his studio in Tjura, Norway.

“I think of myself as a glass sampler. My glassblowing technique is developed from a mixture of influences; some from the Swedish glass school, some from my summers at the Norwegian Randsfjord Glass factory, a good portion of American-Venetian and a hint of British. My artistic language is created much in the same matter; I have a fascination for historical glass, I look to modern and contemporary glass, other crafts and arts and it all informs my own expression in the material. Running a studio glass workshop I enjoy my diverse production, ranging from functional glassware and unique art glass to larger scale installations and commissions. My unique art pieces are all blown, decorative-sculptural with a functional origin, sometimes also engraved and narrative.

The strong fascination with the endless possibilities with cane and murrini never ends. Zanfirico, Latticino, Merletto, Ballottini, Filigrana… The names of the cane techniques alone can evoke addiction. I don’t know if my style of using canes in many layers to create a random, intricate pattern has a name. Maybe I should call it Mille Livello. Or Mille Linee. Anything sounds good in Italian.” Vidar Koksvik

Public Collections include:

Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo; West Norway Museum of Decorative Art, Bergen; Sørlandets Art Museum, Norway; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Vidar Koksvik’s work will feature in a group exhibition in September 2019 – Convergence.

Karlyn Sutherland

Place of Birth: Thurso, Scotland

Karlyn Sutherland studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art, before completing her Ph.D at the University of Edinburgh in 2014. Karlyn began working in glass in 2009 when her research into the topics of place and attachment led her home to Lybster, Caithness, and to her enrollment on a master class at North Lands Creative Glass; she has since gone on to exhibit nationally and internationally. Influenced by her experience of the derelict buildings found along the coast near her home, Karlyn explores light and shadow within her work. In 2016 she was an Endeavour Research Fellow in the Glass Workshop of the Australian National University, Canberra, and was artist in residence at both the University of Sunderland and at the Corning Museum of Glass. Most recently Karlyn was Artist in Residence at Toyama City Institute of Glass Art, Japan.

‘Central to my work, both in glass and architecture, is a long-standing interest in the bond between people and place; my practice explores this dialogue, with a particular focus on the characteristics of space that shape our memories and sense of attachment to our environment. Glass is an evocative material, able to readily convey atmosphere, emotion and narrative; it has the ability to reveal memories, generate associations and encourage the imagination in other mediums often cannot. My work in glass is both autobiographical in nature and an extension of the sensibilities and skills I have honed as an architectural designer; it is a reaction to vivid memories and intangible qualities of significant moments and places, with each piece distilling and communicating the essence of an experience of light, shadow and atmosphere. The haptic, hands-on act of making is contemplative – a tool which allows me to explore, strengthen and learn from my own relationship with and understanding of place.’ – Karlyn Sutherland.

Karlyn Sutherland’s work featured in a group exhibition in September 2019 – Convergence.

Inge Panneels

Place of Birth: Belgium

Inge Panneels explores mapping and the notion of place and space using glass as a medium for site specific works. Inge initially trained at Edinburgh College of Art and was Senior Lecturer at the University of Sunderland, teaching both practical skills in glass making and professional practice and theory. An interest in ‘mapping in art’ prompted a theoretical investigation in how artists are charting climate change in the Anthropocene, the subject of PhD research project currently being undertaken at Northumbria University with financial support from the AHRC.

Inge’s most recent work Claude Glass is a collaboration with photographer and mountaineer Kevin Greenfield. Kevin was previously an experienced guide in the Snowdon mountains before studying photography and running his own photographic studio. His personal work explores the interactions between the public and the natural landscape they wish to visit; examining the reality of the landscape and our perception of it. Kevin and Inge’s collaborative collection – Claude Glass – references the Claude Glass invented by the 17th century painter Claude Lorrain. The black glass (or mirror) was used to frame the landscape and was used extensively by the picturesque landscape painters of the 18th and 19th century. The 18th century English poet William Wordsworth famously walked up Snowdon from Bedgellert. In 2016, the artists retraced his steps where possible, and photographed the landscape at various points framing it through a cast Claude Glass made by Panneels. In 2019, they explored the Ettrick valley in the Scottish Borders to retrace the steps of the ‘Ettrick Sheppard’, the 18th century poet James Hogg, who – like Wordsworth – was inspired by the landscape in which he lived and worked. As such the work and a sense of place are irrevocably intertwined. The dark grey cast glass has a highly polished flat surface, which reflects the surrounding landscape when placed strategically. The reflected image creates a live landscape within a landscape and the accompanying photographs record this temporary and illusory moment of simultaneous vision.

Public collections include: Museum of Liverpool; Ebeltoft Glass Museum, Denmark; Mercator Museum, Belgium; National Glass Centre, Sunderland

Inge Panneel‘s work will feature in a group exhibition in September 2019 – Convergence.

Convergence

Harry Morgan

Vidar Koksvik

Karlyn Sutherland

Inge Panneels

Join our mailing list