Lightfall (installation view). Photo: Mark Tantrum
New Zealand studio glass has a relatively short history that emerged in the 1970s and has cemented its own unique place in the decades since. Light Fall charts six of the early pioneers in this artform; Tony Kuepfer, Mel Simpson, Peter Viesnik, John Croucher, Garry Nash and Ann Robinson.
Tony Kuepfer’s sinuous blown glass vessels were created at one of the first hot glass studios he established in Inglewood in the 1970s. Around this time, John Croucher opened Sunbeam Glassworks co-op in Auckland. Although a number of people worked in the studio it was in the early 1980s that Garry Nash and Ann Robinson became business partners. While Tony, John and Garry continued in the glass blowing tradition and experimented in many other directions, Ann went her own way with distinctive cast glass forms.
Each of the makers in the exhibition has multiple works on display from The Dowse collection that show how their practices evolved over time. Like the sunlight breaking through the clouds, Light Fall highlights a moment in the history of New Zealand studio glass through the diverse work of these forerunners.