CANBERRA GLASSWORKS: BAAYANGALIBIYAAY

Giirr ngiyani gunimaagu gaaydjuul guwaaldanha / We ( us and country / mother earth ) telling one story

From Freshwater mussel shells 60-80 years old, to plant material, found objects, and stones + tools of trade and exchange; this is a show created to explore memory, kinship and Country and the fundamental roles we play to maintain balance and ensure continuity. Using sand casting, flame working, cold working and hand finishing, this exhibition features old, new, and continuing stories developed and created with master glass artists at Canberra Glassworks. An exhibition which presents one of the first ever bodies of work using experimental techniques and recycled television glass to translate notions of value, waste and moments of trauma through a tactile conversation inherently connected with Country, Lore and material culture.

By infusing and imprinting materials and narratives collected at times of extreme weather events, each individual form (shell / stone / leaf) translates moments of crisis and urgency. With glass ranging from translucent to opaque, black to white, pure to gritty, ground to polished, this subtle yet striking series of objects represent states and notions of welness and comments on country and the body interchangeably as vessels which record hold and respond.

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Baayangalibiyaay (with having the natural balance / order of all things in the living world);
an exploration of people, place + notions of ‘wellbeing’.

Images courtesy Brenton McGeachie, Canberra Glassworks and L Simpson 2023

View Exhibition Catalogue here