ARTISTS TALKING

Glass has the ability to keep out the wind and rain but at the same time allows in a precious commodity – light. Imagine the room you are in now with no windows, there would be no view (however good or bad) and no natural daylight. My work is concerned with manipulating natural light, not predominantly with colour but with a mixture of textures and surface treatments.

I graduated from Swansea Institute of Higher Education in July 2000 with first class honours. The Architectural Stained Glass Degree is renowned worldwide for excellence and taught me not only the techniques of making a traditional, leaded window but it also equipped me with the skills to design architectural glass with appropriate solutions for any given situation.

The above commission is located in the new Swansea Divisional Police Headquarters, above the main entrance. Although I have completed several private commissions this is my first public art commission, which I was awarded after contacting the architect and presenting my ideas to a committee in Swansea's County Hall.

Collaboration is a key component when designing and making site-specific, architectural art work as many different individuals are involved, not only is the glass artist a designer and maker but also manager and coordinator of the entire commission, from photographing the finished piece to arranging the scaffolding for the installation.

This piece of work was dominated by the design of the façade where the windows created a definite grid pattern. Visual metonyms were included to introduce the idea of modernday policing. Fused glass, beads, sandblasting and bevelled pieces of glass were all utilised to give the desired result of changing the space within by manipulating glass.