Impressions Series

Kiln-Formed Glass + Cast Landscape Impressions
Various dimensions
2016 - 2020 Multi-year body of work

Impressions was a multi-year body of glasswork exploring the textures, forms and material character of the Alberta landscape. Developed through repeated experimentation with casting and kiln-forming processes, the series translated direct impressions of grasses, tree bark, stone and other plant material into sculptural glass objects.

The process began outdoors. Natural surfaces and specimens were cast in plaster, then translated into reverse glass moulds that retained their intricate textures. Rather than beginning with commercially manufactured sheets of glass, I assembled irregular pieces and studio offcuts into new sheets in the kiln, allowing the individual fragments to melt together while retaining organic, flowing edges.

These handmade glass sheets were then kiln-formed over the textured moulds, transferring physical traces of the landscape into their surfaces. Many were subsequently draped or slumped over forms to create sculptural vessels, while others remained as freestanding or wall-based objects.

The series developed through numerous variations in colour, transparency, texture, scale and form over several years. While much of the work retained a functional relationship to the vessel, Impressions increasingly treated glass as a record of place—capturing fragments of the landscape through direct contact and transforming them through heat, gravity and material experimentation.