This year, I’m working on some exciting projects.
TE MATATIKI TOI ORA THE ARTS CENTRE
Tidal Study
This series of lampworked glass sculptures explores the fragile biodiversity of the edge-world between land and sea.
Each piece is shaped by hand using the traditional technique of lampworking; melting glass in a flame and cooling it slowly overnight in a kiln. The resulting forms echo the organic tangle of seaweed drifting through tidal pools.
2025 Sculpture Festival
Christchurch Arts Centre
4-19 October
Exhibition | ORA GALLERY
Fixed in flow
A moment suspended: where stillness meets energy, and colour becomes atmosphere.
Artists: Rachel Walker, Catherine Roberts, Hollie O’Neill and Isla Osborne
Opening: Friday 10 October, 5 - 7pm
ORA Gallery: 23 Allen Street, Te Aro
Liz McAuliffe | Isla Osborne
Small Observations
This ongoing collaboration with sculptor Liz McAuliffe brings together her finely detailed porcelain leaf and seed pod forms with my hand-blown glass domes. Liz’s work celebrates the quiet beauty of natural forms, inviting us to pause and really see what's so often overlooked. Together, we’ve created pieces that feel like contemporary heirlooms, echoing the curiosity and care of Victorian-era collectors. Each dome becomes a moment of stillness; a small, delicate encounter with everyday taonga.
Frankly Small (Merit Award Winner)
9 – 23 August
NZ Steel Gallery, Pukekohe
Isla Osborne
Defence Mechanism
A vivid wall-based series exploring the intersection of domesticity, craft, and quiet resistance. Each piece features a cluster of brightly coloured glass-tipped pins, tiny weapons of precision and beauty, mounted in painted embroidery hoops like shields.
Lined up in their matching frames, they become both decoration and defence, a kind of domestic armour.
This growing collection celebrates the power of small things: the sharp edge of the everyday, and the resilience found in repetition, colour, and craft.
Jenny Mcleod Glass | Isla Osborne
Neptunes Necklace
A collaboration inspired by our native seaweed, Jenny and I have combined my blown glass beads with her fused elements to craft a series of sculptural wall necklaces that echo the movement of drifting tides. A playful dialogue in glass, they reflect connection, materiality, and decades of shared exploration.
Connection, Kumeū Arts, June 2025.
Exhibition | NZ Glassworks
Gather '25
This series of pendants explores the interplay of translucency, and surface treatments on flame-worked glass. Each piece is individually crafted on the blowtorch and either cold worked or re-fired with lustres that reflect the light and give the glass a warm, iridescent glow.
Fig & Honey | Isla Osborne
Jo (from Fig & Honey) and I are working on something amazing together! She’s been foraging plants to dye her gorgeous silks, and I’m making glass beads to go with them. Think jewellery and art with a touch of nature — it's an ongoing project that I can’t wait to share!