Amanda Simmons (b.1970) is one of the leading voices in contemporary British kiln-formed glass. Originally trained in Biomedical Sciences and Clinical Sciences, her early academic background continues to inform the precision, curiosity and investigative nature of her artistic practice. After discovering glass through a stained glass course with Ray Bradley in 2002, Simmons undertook postgraduate study in Glass and Architecture at Central Saint Martins, London, graduating in 2004. She now works from her studio in Dumfries and Galloway, where landscape, weather and natural phenomena subtly permeate her work.
Simmons is renowned for her technically sophisticated kiln-formed vessels, created through an intensely process-driven approach that embraces gravity, heat and transformation. Working primarily with layers of opaque glass powders, she constructs forms that shift and elongate within the kiln, allowing colour, density and translucency to evolve unpredictably during firing. The resulting works possess remarkable depth and luminosity, their surfaces animated by intricate veils of colour, shadow and internal pattern. Light plays a vital role within the work, revealing subtle changes and hidden complexities as the viewer moves around each piece.
What distinguishes Simmons’ practice is the balance between rigorous technical control and an openness to chance. The kiln becomes an active collaborator, with time, temperature and gravity shaping the final form in ways that cannot be entirely predetermined. Each vessel carries evidence of this dialogue between artist and material. Following firing, Simmons undertakes extensive cold-working processes including sandblasting, hand lapping and diamond point engraving, refining and cutting back surfaces to reveal further layers within the glass.
Her works often feel simultaneously geological and atmospheric, evoking eroded landscapes, weather systems, mineral formations or shifting water and sky. Despite their abstract nature, they possess a strong physical and emotional presence, inviting prolonged looking and quiet contemplation.
Amanda Simmons’ work is held in major public collections including National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; the Ernsting Stiftung Glass Museum, Germany; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; and Perth Museum and Art Gallery. In 2024, The Scottish Gallery presented We Are Crow, a major solo exhibition of new vessels that further demonstrated the ambition, technical innovation and poetic intensity of her practice.
