FROM HERE - JESSICA LOUGHLIN
https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/from-here-a-look-at-the-work-of-major-glass-artist-jessica-loughlin/
FROM HERE : A LOOK AT THE WORK OF MAJOR GLASS ARTIST JESSICA LOUGHLIN
An exquisite visual feast, while somewhat minimalist perhaps, this is a stunning book that examines the work of Australian glass artist Jessica Loughlin, based in Adelaide. FROM HERE is a large, sumptuously illustrated coffee table book full of insights into Loughlin’s life, her work processes and her concern for the environment.
The book has a forward by Brian Parkes the CEO of the Jam Factory in Adelaide, a preface by Caterina Tognon, then a chapter by Julie Ewington, followed by a bevy of photos of Loughlin’s works, and showing her studio and various installations, which is followed by Tina Oldknow’s chapter. Julie Ewington is an independent curator, writer and broadcaster based in Sydney. Based in New York, Tina Oldknow is an independent curator and art historian specialising in contemporary art, craft and design in glass. Also included are a CV and timeline of Loughlin’s life and work, then notes and acknowledgements.
The book showcases and discusses how Loughlin is fascinated by the stillness and quiet of light, the horizon and the simplicity and delicacy of emptiness. A hiking enthusiast, she is heavily influenced by the landscape and environment of the salt lakes, especially Lake Eyre/Kati Thanda.
Loughlin was born in Melbourne, studied Japanese Zen Buddhist ‘sumi-e’ (ink painting) and while in Canberra at the Australian National University studied glass making under the late Stephen Proctor.
Loughlin began her studio practice in 1998 and soon became recognised as a prominent member of the upcoming generation of glass artists in the early 2000s. She has exhibited extensively and held residencies both nationally and internationally over the course of her career. Her studio in Adelaide with specialised equipment is large and she does not usually use assistants.Her work process is explained and how she uses glass as a material.
Loughlin asks how is light perceived, and examines in her work – distance, the sky and the horizon, the salt lakes, and water and evaporation. Her work is a combination of kiln fusing, casting and hand grinding to get the sometimes fragile textures right. In her practice, Loughlin fuses opaque and translucent glass together in flat panels or geometric freestanding pieces that allude to shadow, reflection and refraction.
Quite a few of Loughlin’s series of works are shown – including for example the Awash, Receptors of Light, Light Spill, Continuum, Light Mass and Ever Changing Constant series. We see how Loughlin works include mostly free – standing box sculptures, in quiet tones of grey for example, looking like clouds or capturing the stillness of the landscape. Or rain falling. This is contrasted with strong oblong and circular forms in blue (a refraction of the light) in her compelling, dynamic Cerulean Cycles series.
Photos are included of her studio and also her holding/installing some of the large boxes she has created. As Ewington says ‘Glass is Loughlin’s material, but her subject is seeing, experiencing and reflecting’. The purity of the shapes Loughlin creates, as Ewington says, suggests their meditative potency. Loughlin is partial to using opaline glass and is interested in the opaqueness of glass.
A stunning book, a terrific record of this major glass artist’s work. Loughlin’s exhibition at The Jam Factory in Adelaide has just closed.
https://www.jamfactory.com.au/exhibitions-jamfactory-adelaide
https://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=1822&cat=0&page=&featured=Y
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