Giles Bettison, Lace 09 #30, 2009
blown and coldworked murrine glass, 7.25 x 10 x 2.75 inches
Photo: Andrew Dunbar
Portland, OR – Bullseye Gallery is pleased to announce its third solo exhibition of work by Giles Bettison on view from November 3 - December 29, 2009. Solace presents a selection of kilnformed glass wall panels and vessel forms inspired by the grand arches of Venetian architecture and the delicate patterns of lace textiles.
"Movement through life is manifest in the things we do and patterns we live by,” says Bettison. “My work is an exploration of my movement through life, expressed in colours, patterns, and forms.”
Bettison, a graduate of Australia’s Canberra School of Art, is known for both artistic and technical innovation. While still a student, he applied an ancient Venetian glassworking technique – the fusing of bundled glass cane cut into patterned slices called murrine – to a new material: an American-made colored sheet glass. By using strips of sheet glass instead of cane, Bettison was able to achieve the appearance of woven textiles. He has applied this technique to a variety of forms, from traditional vessels to sculptural blocks mounted on steel.
Bettison has received a number of prestigious awards, including the Best New Talent award from UrbanGlass in New York (1999) and the Bavarian State Prize Gold Medal in Germany (2001). His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, and the Museum of Applied Contemporary Art and Design in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Download: Giles Bettison, October 8, 2009