Matthew Curtis

Glass

Maker Member

Matthew Curtis has developed a rigorous material-based practice focused on the shifting qualities of glass. His affinity, dexterity, and experience are extensive and experimental. Curtis was introduced to glassblowing through an informal apprenticeship at Denizen Glass in Sydney in the early 1990s. Based in Queanbeyan, NSW, he works from a home studio with his partner Harriet Schwarzrock, running a vibrant glassblowing studio.
His work is widely collected and has been selected for prestigious residencies including the Wheaton Arts Creative Glass Fellowship, the Corning Museum International Artist Residency, and the Canberra Glassworks Fellowship. Collections include the Corning Museum of Glass, the Saxe Collection at the De Young Museum, and the National Gallery of Australia.

Curtis's blown and cast glass objects capture transparent hues that fade and gather in intensity. His current work investigates margins and boundaries, exploring subtle intersections that magnify biological structures and patterns, creating metaphors for harmony and accommodation.

"My work has centred around symmetry and mathematical precision, yet recently this has become peripheral, yielding a more meditative approach. I am fascinated by capturing the minutia of architectural structures in nature, working with subtle, shifting hues that accentuate almost cellular boundaries. Conceptually, my attentiveness lies in sympathetically bringing components together, reflecting upon how elements can accommodate each other harmoniously.

My glassblowing practice adapts traditional techniques, to achieve veneers of colours encasing suspended bubbles. The molten glass, tinted with oxides, is systematically gathered, creating differing veneers of varying hues. The glass is stretched and shaped to create sympathetic forms through a process that is both creatively demanding and physically rigorous. Made in separate components, they are meticulously carved and ground once cooled, providing a stonelike surface through which light penetrates to reveal visible layers within. My practice includes a "revitrification" project, diverting architectural glass from the waste stream and transforming it into cast work, engaging with themes of sustainability and material regeneration."

Online Resources:

Website: https://www.curtisglassart.com/

Instagram: @mattomakes

cover image: Matt Curtis, Section. photo by Rob Little
top image: Matt Curtis, Increment, 2015. Corning Museum of Glass collection. photo by Rob Little