Meet the maker: Kirstie Rea
Kirstie Rea is an internationally acclaimed glass artist who has had an extraordinary practice that has spanned for more than thirty years.
Through the decades, Rea has spent an incredible amount of time in dialogue with her medium - glass. Whilst continuously renewing her relationship with glasswork, Rea has explored many themes including journeys, rest, solitude, memory and regeneration. She is an artist who is committed by a sense of moral responsibility to nurture what she feels is deeply right. This is reflected through the delicate visual language of her work; each piece gently responds to light and subtly ebbs and flows with the physical environment that it’s placed in – be it in on an exhibition plinth or amongst other ornaments in a cosy home.
With roots in the glass workshop at the Canberra School of Art (ANU), Rea has instilled with not only a passion for technical excellence but also the creativity energy needed to challenge formal conventions. Rea primarily works in kiln formed glass and cold working techniques, having taught in this field since 1987.
Her practice has moved through time with a robust need to artistically expand, however, what always remains is a fascination with robust geometry and abstraction. She uses glass to gesture towards the themes that she is currently exploring rather than to depict or illustrate a particular literal subject. There is a delicate balance of minimalism in her work, which allows her to portray the ephemeral nature of our surroundings.
View work by this incredible maker in the Thanks mum collection.