Artist Talk: Annette Blair + Aidan Hartshorn

The Glassworks Artist Talk series is an opportunity for artists in our Artistic Program to share their experiences and experimentations with the arts community in an informal presentation.
This public talk will be held in the Canberra Glassworks foyer with light refreshments available. Everyone is welcome and there are absolutely no silly questions. We are all here to learn. 

ANNETTE BLAIR, Artist in Residence

With over twenty years’ experience, Annette Blair is an established glass artist specialising in glass blowing, glass enameling and cold working. Based at Canberra Glassworks and her own studio in Burra, NSW, she is both a designer and maker, dedicated to refining technical processes to create meticulously crafted objects and one-of-a-kind artworks for exhibition.

Annette creates works for exhibition as well as fabricating glass for high profile artists and clients. She is frequently sought after to teach glass blowing and glass painting nationally and internationally, working closely with artists such as Maree Clarke, Patricia Piccinini, NELL, Alex Seton, Mel Douglas and Holly Grace. In 2025, the Australian War Memorial unvieled their new public entrance with a major commissioned sculpture by Annette Blair  to be displayed in the national institution permanently. Annette worked on the installation for around five months, both in fabricating the glass leaves and planning the artwork’s intricate installation. Annette Blair is represented by Sabbia Gallery, Sydney. 

AIDAN HARTSHORN, Artist in Residence

Aidan Hartshorn’s (Walgalu/Wiradjuri) practice examines the environmental and cultural impacts of industrialisation in Australia’s high country. Raised in Tumut, where the Murrumbidgee and Tumut Rivers meet, Hartshorn’s connection to his ancestral land is shaped by the disruptions of the Snowy Hydro-Electric Scheme, which submerged much of Walgalu Country, erasing sacred sites. The ongoing flooding and diversion of the Snowy River continue to affect Hartshorn’s community, limiting access to cultural practices and ancestral lands.

Through his work, Hartshorn addresses the intersection of colonisation, environmental degradation, and cultural loss, often using industrial glass to create objects that reflect his heritage and the ecological damage. His creations, like his Murrin (bark canoe), embody reflections on loss, resilience, and the struggle to reconnect with the land.