Craft / “Upending Expectations: Contemporary Glass” at Canberra Glassworks until June 5. Reviewed by MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE. 

WHAT are visitors’ expectations when they see an exhibition of glass?

Fragility, colour, objects – perhaps all three. However, consider that artists have their own expectations of their work, as well as the work of their fellow artists. The exhibition addresses the latter.

Kirstie Rea really upended my expectations. Usually careful, precise and minimal, Rea is showing a work that, on first glance, could appear to be a failure. A large cluster of clear glass lies covered with rubber cement – lifeless – on a plinth.

Made in 2021, and titled “Complacent Complicity”, this is Rea’s response to the devastating bushfires that occurred around Canberra in 2019-2020. Rea has a strong connection to this part of the world. She walks in it regularly, for the sheer pleasure of being in it. It sustains her and gives her succour.

This work is made from discarded off-cuts of other work, adding to the aura of distress she felt when she saw the destruction of the bush, once so rich in growth and life. We feel her grief.

Clear, crystal and cut-glass bowls, vases, and other vessels were once very fashionable and held prize place in many households. Now they are found in op shops – discarded by those who have inherited them. Nicholas Folland, from Adelaide, repurposes them in installations and artworks.

He has collected five and arranged them on their bases on the wall, lit by LED lights. The lights reflect the decorative patterns on to the wall evoking snow flakes. The delicate patterns change as the viewer moves. For me they are reminiscent of the late Neil Roberts’ use of similar objects.

Breath is inherent in glass blowing, and Gabriella Bisetto, also from Adelaide, has explored the exhalation of breath in her work for many years. She is showing a single object and a group of smaller works. Titled “Cell Structure 1#” and “Cell Structure 2#”, they explore the same subject: cell structure and division. The surface of the larger work is complex with stainless steel wool embedded in the hot glass. The smaller works are clear, though the forms are divided.

Canberra-based artist Nadège Desgenétez understands the use of the body in transforming molten glass into objects of beauty and inspiration. She is showing two organic sculptural forms which glow. A layer of mirrored glass gives a soft velvety tactile surface.

Ten artists are exhibiting in this show, with one from the UK. In the coming months it will travel around regional Australia, taking the magic of glass to populations that may not be familiar with glass as a medium from which art is created.

The show was curated by Frances Lindsay, from Melbourne. While Canberra-based viewers will know most of the exhibitors – we are so fortunate in having many leading artists working in glass living here – the works will certainly upend many of our expectations.