Tidal Studies

I'm delighted that two new glass sculptures will be exhibited in Frankly Small, part of the Franklin Arts Festival.

I've always loved Neptune's Necklace, a seaweed commonly found along New Zealand's rocky coastline. If you've spent time exploring rock pools, you've probably seen its distinctive chain of olive-brown bladders washed across the shore or floating gently with the tide.

What fascinates me is the way these air-filled forms mirror my own process of making glass. When I work at the torch, I blow air into molten glass to create hollow shapes. Neptune's Necklace uses the same simple principle: trapped air creates buoyancy, helping the seaweed lift and move with the water. In both seaweed and sculpture, air becomes a tool for transformation.

Each sculpture is made individually in the flame using traditional lampworking techniques. The glass is heated, shaped and inflated before being slowly cooled overnight in a kiln. The finished forms are mounted on board like collected specimens, drawing on the traditions of natural history collections and scientific displays.

For me, Tidal Study 2.1 and 2.2 are ultimately about paying attention. They invite a closer look at a species that is often overlooked precisely because it is so familiar. Neptune's Necklace is a common sight around our coastline, yet its elegant structure, ingenuity and beauty are easy to miss.

Creating these small sculptures has been an opportunity to spend time observing, questioning and finding wonder in something I thought I already knew.