The techniques of blowing, casting and coldworking with glass necessitates both a holistic approach and constant innovation. As a medium, glass is worked physically, intuitively and creatively. It moves with you, and you move with it, in a dynamic conversation of command, sensitivity and accuracy. As a maker you reflect critically on the material, integrate interdisciplinary practices, utilize new technologies and constantly problem-solve. My design process is a journey that evolves with the material and methodology, as the final product reflects the making process. Hot glass is an expensive material to manage and needs to be handled sparingly, so creative efficiency is as important as authority, skill and finesse in the making process. An object remembers and reflects the struggles inherent in its creation. My processes are streamlined to maximise efficiency and the practicality of design, and it is imperative that works are modular, easily transported, easily assembled and installed.

Biography

Ruth Allen has been passionately working with hot glass as her creative medium for more than 30 years. Ruth graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Glass from the Canberra School of Art in 1993 and obtained a Master of Fine Art in Sculpture & Glass from Monash University in 2006. From 1996-2000 Ruth co-directed a hot glass studio in Auckland, NZ producing limited edition exhibition pieces, jewellery and lighting. Ruth was the President of NZSAG (New Zealand Society of Artists in Glass) from 1995-2000 and orchestrated an extensive series of workshops and international conferences under the rubric of 'Pacific Light'. Ruth currently works from her own hot glass studio in Coburg North. The studio is equipped with a hot glass furnace, kilns, cold working equipment, woodworking and metalworking tools, and a ceramic studio. Ruth creates her own signature works from the studio, facilitates hands-on glassblowing workshops, and works with artists, interior designers, lighting designers and architects to visualise and fabricate their projects. Ruth has exhibited, taught and participated in workshops in prominent glass venues around the world.