Tom Malone - Glass Art Prize

TOM MALONE

GLASS

ART PRIZE 2023

The Tom Malone Glass Art Prize is Australia’s most significant award for Contemporary Glass Art with the winning artist receiving $20,000.

The Prize was initiated in 2003 by Governor of the Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation, Elizabeth Malone.

Since 2018, the prize has enjoyed the generous support of Foundation Benefactor, Sheryl Grimwood. Now in its 21st year, this highly respected exhibition has a new home at Linton and Kay Galleries in The Pickle District, West Perth.

Congratulations to the 23 artists shortlisted for this year's prize. Their innovative, dynamic artworks ensure the continuing venerable status of The Tom Malone Glass Art Prize.

Judging will take place on 21 March, with the 2023 Tom Malone Prizewinning Artist announced during the Official Opening.

ANNE CLIFTON Tasmania OVERVIEW:

VETROGRAPH

2023

blown glass with applied colour, enamels, metal leaf, lampworked acid etched archival surface

38h x 20w cm

$2,500

vet-tro-graph (vet’tro’graf) n [< L. vetri - glass] [< Gr. graph – draw]

Vetrograph plays at the intersection of an intuitive drawing process and the physical and chemical reactions and interaction of coloured glasses. Central to this is an exploration of relationship and inter-relationship; where one layer or drawn line of colour reacts with or against another, where colours fold and meet, separate or pull each other apart.

Sometimes the relationships are literal, sometimes littoral. Importantly, the edge is either defined or undefined and is only made apparent by the underlying elements.

Drawing from my previous studies of ceramics, with a focus on form and surface, I’m offering an experience of dissonance and a questioning of materiality.

ANNETTE BLAIR

Canberra

TRACES OF STILLNESS #8

2023 blown, cold-worked, enamelled and rusted glass

30h x 27.5w x 22.5d cm

$6,100

Inspired by our connection to people and place, this series explores the residues of passing time.

Simplified forms reference familiar objects that may have once been passed down through generations or forgotten in the dark corner of an old shed. The malleability and permanence of glass allow me to reimagine these forms while at the same time preserving them.

By building up layers of glass enamels and rust I celebrate the imagined narratives of these objects and their decay while further exploring the potential of the medium by utilising and expanding upon traditional glass-working techniques.

BAILEY DONOVAN

South Australia

PINK AWASHED 2023

blown glass

45h x 70w x 26d cm

A 11 x 10 x 7, B 30 x 17 x 13,

C 18 x 12 x 16, D 37 x 18 x

14, E 17 x 16 x 13, F 21 x 15 x 11 cm

$3,700

Pink Awashed is a series of six blown glass amorphous objects exploring the interplay of patterns within the glass vessel. Amidst a backdrop of blue and white patterned counterparts, a solitary pink-patterned bean-like glass vessel asserts its individuality.

The patterns draw inspiration from the understated aesthetics of candy and the allure of domestic textiles and wallpaper. This deliberate arrangement of vessels creates a dynamic visual dialogue, exploring the intricate relationships and contrasts between the distinct patterns.

BRENDA PAGE Victoria BEARING WITNESS 2023

lost wax crystal glass with screen-printed enamels fired to surfaces

10h x 15w x 12d cm

$5,200

In the form of a mortuary headrest, this work bears witness to transformation, while its physical shape speaks of mortality. It transcends notions of death, addressing instead the experience of metamorphosis.

The curves and contours call to mind the shape and weight of the head, it remembers the departed and mourns the physical being. As one figure watches over the other, so do we in life and death.

Cast in crystal using the lost wax method of casting with screen-printed glass enamelled decals applied and fired onto the surface.

CHERYL EDWARDS

Victoria AQUEOUS, YELLOW 2 2023

Murrini technique, fused, kiln formed and sandblasted 22h x 21w cm

$2,500

My kiln-formed glass represents a culmination of my ongoing exploration and reflection into open vessel forms.

The Italian glass technique of making Murrini cane is how I achieve slight undulation and decoration in my vessels. I use heat and gravity to produce my subtle shapes.

Intricate repetition of pattern and colour are displayed within the organic silhouette. I find the infinite permutation of patterns using this technique fascinating. Glass's transparency and opacity let me play around with movement and rhythms in my creations.

CLARE BELFRAGE

South Australia

LOW TIDE, GOLD ON EEL GREEN

2023

blown glass with cane drawing, sandblasted and pumicepolished

44h x 28w x 18d cm

$10,000

The rhythms of the natural world continue to draw me in, shifting and expanding my experience of time.

Slow development, adaptability and resilience are characteristics of ancient organisms of land and sea, plant life such as lichen and moss, shell creatures such as limpets. Inspired by these life forms my view is from close up, focusing on the details both real and imagined.

EDOLS & ELLIOTT

New South Wales SQUALL 2023

blown glass, wheel carve

35h x 20w x 10d cm

$8,500

Themes of breaking waves and rocks in fast flowing rivers have stayed with us signifying the necessary strength we draw on as we face the constant challenges of life.

This vessel with opaque colour overlaid onto a transparent interior bubble with cane application emphasizes the chaos of nature. The overlay colour is removed using wheel carving and wheel engraving, allowing the absence of light to speak as strongly as the presence of light.

ESTELLE DEAN

Western Australia

JOURNEYMAN

2023

glass frit and powder, screen printed, free-formed fused and slumped

56L x 51w x 4d cm

$1,300

This work is part of a continuing series of investigation into the potential of mark making, free formed slumping, multiple firings and hot forming the glass frit and powders.

Journeyman speaks of the path fraught with obstacles one encounters, either technical or self-imposed. The inspiration for this mark making is the scribbly gum insect, Ogmograptis scribula, who makes the tracks on Eucalyptus trees.

HANNAH GASON

Canberra

SHAPING LIGHT VI 2023

two textured laminated coloured glass panels within an aluminium LED lit frame, sandblasted and hard worked to create contrasting circular forms. The central circular glass panel is waterjet cut, and kiln formed using a compression technique then cold worked by hand.

36.5h x 26w x 7.5d cm

$5,200

Shaping Light VI is an illuminated sculpture that conveys an illusionary space and perspective using glass, colour and light.

Glass panels consist of geometric forms and repeating patterns that shape and hold light, both within and projecting from its frame. The circular motif is used throughout the layers and the forms gently touch and align when viewed from a single point.

As viewers interact with the work, the textures and forms constantly shift and ripple creating a changing view of space and perspective.

HOLLY GRACE

Victoria OFF TRACK 2023

blown glass, with painted glass enamel surfaces, copper mirroring & sandblasted imagery

28h x 44w x 30d cm

$6,900

This artwork is inspired by a recent four-week Craft ACT 2023 artist residency at the National Portrait Gallery where I researched the concepts and history of self-portraiture and spent time at Gudgenby ready-cut Cottage in the Namadgi National Park. The artwork combines the residency experience with recent explorations of the fire regeneration at Northern Kosciuszko National Park from the 2020 black summer of fires.

Kettle, tin, inkwell and crows feather are all glass recreations of actual objects found in one of the remote mountain huts in the Kosciuszko National Park.

The artwork is both a personal memoir and a portrait of a place, a visual journal of my travails through these fragile environments. As an Australian, I seek to learn more about our fragile environment and the animals within, but in an uncertain future with unbalanced relationships between humanity and nature, much seems off track...

JARRED WRIGHT

Queensland

ARACHNOMORTIS

2023

hand-blown Borosilicate glass (smokey black)

37L x 26w x 29d cm

$2,900

I had always heard rumours of large insects in Australia and when I first moved here, I was so naive. I wasn’t ready for the reality.

The first time I met a Huntsman spider, it was early morning (hungover and before my morning coffee). A large 8-legged shape was on the fridge door - just next to the handle. My eyes didn’t believe what I saw. Literally. I thought it was my new flatmate playing a prank, “Ha ha! You fell for the old 'magnetised-fake-spider-gag’!” Nope...When I saw it scuttle away, I almost fell over. I felt my pupils dilate and the adrenaline left me a shaky mess. Three days after this awkward introduction, I saw a small dark object on the floor and on closer inspection I recognised the Huntsman from before but it was in a very different pose. Upside down and legs contorted inwards. After nudging it apprehensively with a chopstick, I concluded it was deceased. I reflect on this encounter sometimes and how it had such a strong presence and then the next day - just a hollow shell. No longer a frightening beast but a small lifeless monument, its body motionless and tight with rigor mortis. I remember feeling that such a commanding creature should have a proper burial or ceremony but all I could find was a sweeper brush and a nearby rubbish bin (I’m sure there’s a deep metaphor hidden somewhere in this but I will leave it to the viewer to dig it out).

So many (glass) artists try to imbue life, movement and realism into their work - but with this work, I wanted to push the slider to the other side of the spectrum and simply pay homage to the little (big) guy and recreate the death pose through the use of elegant shapes and simple forms.

JESSICA LOUGHLIN South Australia

HALITE II - III

2023 kiln formed and hand ground glass

48h x 48w x 35d cm

$8,500 ea

$12,500 for set

My work is about light, space and distance. halite ii-iii is made out of opaline glass which, like the sky, can split the light into warm and cool tones.

Although halite ii appears blue, it is not made out of blue glass. The different tones in each panel are created with time in the kiln. The opaline blue is similar to the blue seen when looking into the distance. Is this viewed distance as a real space or a space created by our perception? -for as we move towards it… it moves away from us.

JESSICA MURTAGH South Australia

TWITTER WARS

2023 blown glass, sand carved and engraved 40h x 40w x 1d cm

$

Now named X, today we remember the many wars that were waged on Twitter for years immemorial. Mild-mannered people daily become fierce adversaries. Their weapon of choice, the smartphone. Their ammunition, a tweet. Fallen heroes, vanquished foes and aching thumbs.

A blown glass commemorative plate for the many hours lost in the pursuit of being right. There are no victors, only the endless battle of opinion.

Created using the Swedish overlay technique, this rondel has been sand carved and engraved with a contemporary theme drawing inspiration from ancient Attic artefacts depicting phalanxes of hoplites.

JORDAN BENSON

Victoria FLIGHT PATH 2023

fused glass, painted glass, lead lighting

32h x 52.3w cm

$2,400

Flight Path looks to play on some of the common expectations of residential stained glass lead lighting. Instead of a traditional scene of content peaceful birds, we see a painted illustration of two birds who have collided with the window and broken the glass.

KEVIN GORDON

Victoria H20

2023

glass / hand blown, Swedish overlaid colour, diamond wheel cut, sandblast carved, felt and brush wheel polishing

40h x 30w cm

$9,240

I am fascinated by the element of water and its ability to shape and transform the world around us. H2O is a powerful force that can be both serene and tumultuous and I strive to capture its essence in my work.

I explore the fluidity, transparency and reflective properties of water, and how it interacts with light and colour. The different shades of blue, green and white that it takes on, and the way it interacts with its surroundings are all endlessly fascinating. Using molecular structure of H2O – the composition of just two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom I want to convey this in an abstract interpretive form into the glass.

Acknowledged others:

Gaffer: Billy Crellin, Assistants: Hamish Donaldson and Danielle Colón

KRISTEL BRITCHER

South Australia

VESSEL/LINE STUDY

2023

blown, coldworked and engraved glass

46h x 26w x 26d cm

$6,750

Vessel/Line Study references the decadent decorative history of hand-blown glass.

I am interested in the juxtaposition of a decorative object with the tension and balance needed within each glass component to function. I hope that this piece is both beautiful to look at, and unnerving to put to use.

LEE HOWES

New South Wales

CONFLUENCE 2023

cast glass, lost PLA method –high polish finish

Piece 1: 30 x 10 x 10 cm

Piece 2: 25 x 10 x 10 cm

$4,840

This work continues my exploration of 3D-printed joints and puzzle forms.

For this work, I have used the Kawai Tsugite 3-way joint. An ancient Japanese joint that has been 3D-printed and then cast into 2 forms that fit snuggly together.

The inspiration for this work is a familiar one and a huge part of my daily life. A swim in the ocean and paddling on the harbour. Confluence – the meeting of two bodies of water.

LIAM FLEMING South Australia

TRANSITORY FORM #8

2023

mould blown glass, coldworked, fused and slumped

53L x 41h x 37d cm

$10,000

WINNER – TOM MALONE GLASS ART PRIZE

Form is a constant enigma. There is something relieving and redeeming to let go of control in the making. The processes of testing, experimentation and analysis are more than a means to an end, combining repetitive elements into a singular work highlights the relationship between the individual components and the whole.

Transitory Form #8 grants the material agency.

Acknowledged others: Luna Ryan, Assistant Moulds and kiln casting

NICK MOUNT

South Australia

CANTEENS ON CHARRED OAK: A STILL LIFE

2023

blown glass, Murrini, surface work, bronze frame, charred oak, assembled

40L x 60h x 20d cm

$12,000

I intend my to be work recognised for its homage to the powerful traditions and techniques of hand working in hot glass and the contemporary statement it makes through its concentration on sculptural concerns and compositions.

Canteens on Chard Oak includes Murrini forms that are soft and quiet with their broad strokes of colour and I am using a bronze frame as a strong architectural contribution to the composition. A votive offering is displayed without intention.

PETER NILSSON Canberra

STEPPING OUT 2023

laminated and sculpted floatglass, with enclosed engraved image, kiln casted lead crystal, black granite

25h x 30L x 15d cm

$7,500

glass

into

In this piece, I'm exploring the concept of solitude. To be comfortable in your own space, body and mind, but still stepping out to interact with the environment around you. The body of the figure is an engraved hollow space inside the glass block, while the head comes out and becomes an actual shape that interacts with the outside space and elements.

I see myself as a storyteller, but love to observe humans and listen to their stories.

Stepping Out: Glass is my medium! You can look at a

sculpture,

it, and through it. I am using glass to create figurative images and shapes.

RUTH ALLEN Victoria

MOBIUS CHANDELIER 2023

hot sculptured glass

220 x 245 x 12 cm (variable)

$12,650

Mobius Chandelier is a composition of eight handmade, glass, mobius strips, each suspended off the wall via acrylic pins, one dominant light source spreads across the work illuminating the complex caustics within.

At the core of my work lies the desire to produce sculptural forms, optics, and large-scale installations that afford the unique qualities of glass a stage to perform and demonstrate its exquisite materiality and phenomenology.

The mobius strip is a fascinating addition to my oeuvre in which I repeatedly navigate an ever-expanding taxonomy of glass components that possess conceptual intrigue and physically engage volume in space.

Acknowledged others:

Tom Rowney, Ben Edols, Nick Doran-Adams, Juniper Maffescioni Installation technician: Joshua Rowell

SCOTT CHASELING

New South Wales

LOST MY SHAPE, TRYING TO ACT CASUAL

2023

fused, blown and etched glass

15h x 10L x 10w cm

$2,200

I gain so much joy every time I have shown this piece to a new audience. The opening of eyes, a breath taken deeply, and an audible sound of seeing the unseen.

My explorations into materiality, mixed with abstraction of form have allowed me to be more expressive and gestural with glass. The dismissal of trained techniques and their embedded histories are revealed in a freedom of creativity I have not felt before.

The power it possesses denies its scale. At one point it is accessible and familiar through being a small vessel, and yet then it becomes enigmatic and mysterious due to the form being caught mid-dance, with its non-glass appearance and perceived lack of human input.

TOM MOORE

South Australia

DANCY MERGANSER AND BUDDY

2023

furnace-work and lampworked glass, HXTAL epoxy to join stoppers

36 x 25 x 10 cm / 41 x 27 x 10 cm

$19,000 pair $9500 ea

I am inspired by venerable, ancient traditions of comical, representational vessel-making. In this case figurative bottles/bodies with heads that are removable stoppers.

The visual joke is enhanced by the addition of faces on both the bottle and stopper so the characters can be perceived as "right way up" or as standing on their enormous heads.

These curious antipodeans are intended to delight but my reason for making them is more than just fun. I playfully combine human, plant and animal features in the hope of bamboozling conventions of representation and perception. I believe there are great possibilities for profundity in absurdity.

West Perth WA 6163