Gallery Floor Talk and Demonstration with Tom Rowney and curator, Caroline Field.

ABOUT

Join us as we learn about the experimentation, ideas and creations behind our current exhibition in this discussion with the artist and curator in the gallery at Canberra Glassworks. After the Gallery Floor Talk, you will be invited to the Hotshop Viewing Platform to watch a live glass blowing demonstration with Tom Rowney with commentary from Caroline Field and Canberra Glassworks Artistic Director, Aimee Frodsham.

This gallery floor talk will be held in the Canberra Glassworks foyer and will be an opportunity to engage with the glass community. Everyone is welcome and there are absolutely no silly questions. We are all here to learn.

THE EXHIBITION

Aventurine Spirit
Tom Rowney, curated by Caroline Field

Showing at Canberra Glassworks: 9 March to 7 May 2023

Aventurine Spirit is an engaging selection of recent works by the extraordinary glass artist Tom Rowney. With a focus on Venetian traditions, Rowney conjures amazing shapes, textures, and patterns, transforming the everyday into objects of desire.

Always pushing boundaries, Rowney is well known for his cones, cups, spheres and bud vases created with stunning colourings including aventurine green and ruby red. With an eye to bling and frippery, Rowney combines classic elements of glass blowing with enchantment and style. Daring form and structured contemporary shapes are embellished with meticulous fine linework and shimmering texture, pushing the functional into a fluid aesthetic.

Tom Rowney is renowned as one of the most accomplished glass blowers in Australia with over thirty years’ experience in the field. He has perfected his skills and is inspired by traditional Venetian techniques which have been a constant source of exploration.

Rowney currently resides in regional New South Wales and is also employed as the Technical Director at Canberra Glassworks. As one of Australia’s foremost glass blowers Rowney continues to be sought after for teaching and fabrication projects by the leading glass studios and artists in Australia and overseas. His works have been collected by the National Gallery of Australia, National Glass Collection - Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Powerhouse Museum, Australian Catholic University Collection, and the Tacoma Museum of Glass (USA). Rowney is represented by Beaver Galleries, Canberra and Sabbia Gallery, Sydney.