Mandi King is another person I met at Bowerbird Bazaar. It is difficult to really place her in the box of pure Artist, Designer or Craftsperson as she is proficient in all three areas. Her designs are incredibly appealing aesthetically and are extremely functional. Originally Mandi studied at New York State College of Ceramics and completed her honours degree focussing on the areas of glass sculpture and digital printmaking. It was during this period that she became inspired by the work of Australian glass artists such as Clare Belfrage and Gabriella Bisetto. In a bold move, she left the States and moved to South Australia to undergo the two-year Glass Design Associateship at the Jam Factory. Glass for Mandi King is surely an enchanting and seductive medium.
Illumini Decanter
The first item to catch my eye was the strange shaped, Illumini Decanter with its central hole,the function of which is to aerate the wine as it is decanted. Developed as a collaborative project with Karen Cunningham; this decanter is slightly conical with deep flat sides and gentle curves. The top sees one end sightly raised and formed into a lip while the upper surface is angled backward. This helps the pouring of a liquid into a glass to be easy to facilitate and control.
The hole in the middle provides an aesthetically interesting focal point as well as a unique mechanism for one to grasp this eye-catching piece. The inspiration for this work came ultimately from extensive knowledge of her materials. The fluid, amorphous, organic nature of heated glass is reflected in the work itself. Thus the Illumini decanter’s structure is built around what a glass worker experiences as they work with the medium . To produce flattened sides one must pull and stretch the molten glass. The hole in the centre is like a bubble rising through the shape. The beauty inherent in this work comes largely from the distortion of light as it bends around the forms that have been melded together. The work is homage to the fluidity of the material itself. I want one!
Soft Slices
The work Soft Slices are also highly influenced by the nature of the material itself. They contain a central black rounded section surrounded by coloured glass. The forms resemble a flattened sphere that has been sliced. They look like eyes with their black centre and soft tinted surroundings. Soft Slices is very characteristic of King’s personal style of working with glass. It is clear that she enjoys playing with the biomorphic forms and luminous colour that hot glass naturally creates on its own. In this work I can see forms reminiscent of bubbles, amoeba or single-celled organisms. After the basic forms have been conjured into shape with a blowpipe they are taken into the cold-shop where they are cut, ground and polished on industrial machinery, reducing them back to what she feels are their essence.The hot and cold approaches used to create the forms are philosophically different, yet there is a dynamic balance created. The elements within the final works harmonise with each other. Soft slices have within themselves an innate movement related to their liquid forms which is synonymous with the kinetic nature of the material in its molten form.
The success of these works is derived from the simple intention to manipulate the basic elements of colour and shape in a three-dimensional format. In glass colour is at its most vibrant as it is manipulating the light itself. Essentially it is pure colour.
What is refreshingly apparent with all of Mandi King’s work is her love for working with the material itself. She does not try to create something that the material is not, rather she is honest with it. Her work brings forth the natural beauty found in glass.
