There’s a hush as we enter the gallery and momentarily stop. Then a simultaneous ‘Wow’ escapes our mouths. This sound utters what my words cannot express. Silent statues of wonder, beauty, intricacy, craftsmanship, design, skill, and delight pose as characters in an unusual story that has international importance, yet has Stroud woven through its narrative.
‘A Thread of Light,’ celebrates three generations of world-renowned kiln cast glass artists, five of whom the Stroud valleys can call its own, in the welcoming beautiful space of Gallery One at the Museum in the Park. It is simply stunning.
The work not only elevates the extraordinary properties of glass, but it elevates the extraordinary skill of those who have manipulated and worked with this medium to produce this fascinating, awe-inspiring collection, marking the UN’s International Year of Glass in style.
Each piece stands alone and has its own story to tell. Together they make a volume of work.
We, the audience are the readers. We literally are embodied in the story, and we see ourselves reflected in the work we look at. As Colin Reid’s playful and illusional ‘Still Life with Books,’ illustrates, as we see the books and then don’t; we see ourselves reflected and then we don’t.
The mysterious quality of glass is mirrored by the mysterious alchemic and personal processes each glass sculptor has performed. Then light adds its magical beauty and orchestrates a dance of its own across each piece to provide yet another level of brilliance.
The name of the exhibition is itself a metaphor. ‘A thread’ nods to Stroud’s rich woollen textile heritage, its working mills and famous scarlet broadcloth which earned the town a world-wide reputation.
We of course salute and honour our five Stroud participants, namely Colin Reid, Sally Fawkes, Richard Jackson, Karen Browning and Fiaz Elson. It is rare that we get to see their work on local soil as it normally travels far away from the studios it is birthed. The thread that links them, is not only a shared vision to see this ancient art continue, but it is Colin Reid, who has acted as a mentor and inspiration to a generation of glass makers. Many have worked with him as studio assistants. Colin himself worked under Keith Cummings, known as the father of British kiln-formed glass who helped establish it as an art form.
It was also Colin’s links with Shanghai, notably with Loretta Yang and the late Chang Yi, whose memory the Museum’s exhibition is dedicated to, that led to the original show of the same name, in the Liuli Museums in Taipei and Shanghai in 2019.
It is glass sculptor Sally Fawkes who curated and adapted ‘A Thread of Light’ especially for Stroud.
‘It feels a very proud moment to be able to display our work in this incredible stunning gallery space that the Museum in the Park has,’ she says.
‘We are all proud of the fact that we work with our hands with techniques that have been used since the Egyptian times and that we are keeping these skills alive in the digital era.’
‘A Thread of Light’ is a snapshot of what is true to the Stroud Valleys. Over the years I have had the privilege of interviewing hundreds of artists in their respective studios, and representing a myriad of medium including pottery, paint, jewellery, sculpture, and drawing. Our five valleys are brimming with creative talent. Work is designed and made in local studios and flown all over the globe. So, to collectively see the unique work of five local artists, who fit into the international picture, epitomises what a rich and prolific creative place we live in.
Before the pandemic, I was working with children from 38 schools in St Helens, Merseyside teaching them through art workshops about their local history, which is rooted in coal and glass. I challenged them to imagine a world without glass. They quickly realised it was more essential than they had appreciated.
This exhibition however celebrates the sheer beauty of glass that has been transformed by artists who have bravely taken on the reins of their Egyptian ancestors and have added their own touch and flair. It’s clear when put in the right hands how glass can be transformed into something extraordinary.
‘A Thread of Light’ is a testimony to an ancient craft that has been faithfully and lovingly passed down through generations and will become a legacy to the glass artists of the future.
Glass, by nature reflects. But this exhibition takes the word reflection to the next level. It will leave you with a sense of awe and wonder.
TRACY SPIERS
‘A Thread of Light: three generations of kiln cast glass artists’ runs until Sunday 12 June 2022.
Banner image: ‘Open Eye R2029’ by Colin Reid (photo by Colin Reid)
