British

My journey in glass started during my MA in Materials Futures at Central Saint Martins, which I graduated from last year with a Distinction. As a researcher, artist, and maker in sustainable material development, I was particularly interested in finding alternatives to the highly processed and finite materials used in the industry today. Having previously lived and studied in Falmouth, Cornwall, I already had links with local fishermen and was particularly interested in working with waste from the fishing industry. I then began to experiment with waste shellfish, and soon discovered that calcium carbonate aka limestone (i.e shells) was in fact one of the main components used within soda-lime glass making. This began my fascination in learning about the traditional craft practice and the history of glass making from raw ingredients to finished product. Being mostly self taught in this discipline, collaboration played a huge part in my learning. I worked closely with glass masters in the UK and Murano, such as KT Rothe, Wave Murano Glass, and glass scholars such as Ian Freestone, Julian Henderson and members of PEGG, at Newcastle university. As well as having an understanding about glass on a raw material/molecular level, my research also focussed on the sense of urgency for a more sustainable glass future. Last summer I received a QEST scholarship (supported by Johnnie Walker and DYCP Arts Council) to do a bespoke training programme with historical glass expert Dr. Chloe Duckworth. We were testing glass recipes made from various silica, alkali and calcium sources, with a maximum of 3 ingredients in each batch. All the materials were sourced locally to Newcastle, and were either in abundance or invasive, or collected as waste from a local industry. For example we were working with waste wood ash and fish bones from a local restaurant, Riley’s Fish Shack, and bracken from Northumberland National Park which was already cut down for control regulations. Through working with high-flux recipes, we were able to see lower melting temperatures with the aim of making it a less energy intensive process. The training also taught me the benefits of working with traditional furnaces, and how to minimise carbon output through modular design and efficient stoking/fuel consumption. I also learned how natural impurities from raw materials can be used to colour glass, as a non-hazardous alternative to metal oxides. My glass work has won the LVMH Maison/0 Green Trial Award and been shown in leading museums and exhibitions such as the V & A, London Design Festival and London Craft Week. I have had work acquired by The Museum of London, NAWAREUM, and was selected as ‘New Emerging Talent’ by Crafts Council and featured in A/W2022 Crafts Magazine. I was also the first ever awardee of the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers Bursary with a subsidised studio at Cockpit Arts. More recently I was awarded the Heritage Crafts X QEST Sustainability award, and have work showing in The Compton Verney Arts Gallery ‘History in the Making’ exhibition.