Mar 12 2008
A Sydney College of the Arts student who makes surrealist objects out of exquisitely etched glass has been winning awards and accolades.
Lee Mathers' work explores how people have been fascinated throughout history with the notion of keepsakes or mementos, and why certain objects become embodied with powerful emotions associated to past events.
Her main medium is glass, a material which features prominently in both the display and in the manufacture of keepsake objects: glass objects, such as bottles, snow domes and paperweights, have been used to store the past and to keep safe memories.
Building on the pre-existing relationship of glass to memory, Lee's work expands and etches the moment in a large glass water drop. Instead of falling and dispersing, the drop is frozen; an image is etched and stored providing an invitation to the viewer to un-tap their own memories.
Lee says her Master's research work "explores memories of personal experience through the production of intimate glass objects that reference the sense of loss or longing one feels with the fleeting nature of remembered past experiences."
Lee's beautiful and technically proficient objects are capturing a lot of attention in the design world. Lee was awarded the 2008 Vicki Torr Memorial Prize for her work Memory Taps during the Ausglass exhibition and conference in Canberra earlier this year.
She was one of three designers chosen from a field of 100 nominees for the Object Gallery's Design Now! graduate showcase exhibition. Lee has also been offered a six-week kiln forming and casting residency at North Lands Creative Glass Centre in Lybster, Scotland, supported by the Scottish Arts Council, which she will undertake in April/May.
Lee Mathers completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours last year and is currently undertaking a Master in Visual Arts at Sydney College of the Arts, the University of Sydney.
Posted March 12th,2008