Wing Fragment

I made these pieces after a summer spent mostly on the sofa, recovering from chemotherapy.

I found I could manage time in the studio one week out of every three, so I used those windows to make glass, knowing I could return to it later. The rest was done slowly at home, stitching on the sofa as my strength came back.

These works are wall-hung embroideries made from hundreds of small glass scales, each one formed in the flame and then sewn by hand into canvas. The surface builds gradually through repetition, a quiet rhythm of making that draws on forms of labour historically associated with women.

In Venice, while glassblowing was dominated by male maestros, women worked at the flame producing lampworked beads in domestic spaces. They shaped glass at an intimate scale, incorporating it into jewellery and textiles. That history sits gently behind this work.

Inspired by macro photographs of moth wings, the surface is constructed from fragile, scale-like glass forms. It’s a response to the decline of flying insects in Aotearoa, and a way of holding onto something delicate, through care, time, and attention.