Australian Glass Artist Jessica Loughlin’s Ethereal Show ‘Of Light’.

Glass sculpture by Jessica Loughlin named Rol XVI RGB.

For the latest instalment of JamFactory’s ICON Series, the Adelaide organisation shines a spotlight on Jessica Loughlin, one of Australia’s most internationally acclaimed glass artists. The series celebrates the achievements of South Australia’s most influential visual artists working in craft-based media.

Renowned for her highly innovative technical approach to kilnformed glass, Loughlin has been a studio glass artist for over twenty-five years.

Known for her understated aesthetic, Loughlin takes her artistic cues from the vast, flat landscapes and South Australia’s salt lakes. She began her artistic exploration of the horizon line in her student years and is particularly drawn to the inherent quietness and stillness of the land.

“To me, the Australian landscape is defined by its vast space and a sense of distance,” Loughlin says. “Being out in a vast space creates stillness and space within my mind, and it is portraying this stillness that has remained a constant aim within my work.”

Loughlin fuses kilnformed sheets of opaque and translucent glass in flat panels or thin geometric freestanding pieces that allude to shadow, reflection and refraction. A restricted use of colour creates a gentle palette of soft muted hues, and, despite the reductive palette, the works contain a spectrum of colour and detail. Made of opaline glass, Loughlin’s freestanding sculptures, for example, appear milky white until they reflect light and become blue or transmit light to reveal warm orange and pinky tones.

The exhibition is on show now at JamFactory Adelaide, until 18th September. It will then tour 13 venues nationally with support from the Australia Council’s Contemporary Touring Initiative. For more information click here.

Aboriginal Artist Pepai Jangala Carroll is 2021 JamFactory ICON.

A painter and ceramic artist based in Pukatja and working from Ernabella Arts, Pepai Jangala Carroll is a Luritja/Pintupi man and the first Aboriginal artist to be celebrated in JamFactory’s ICON series...

Glass Sculpture named Rol XIX Warm Side.

Glass Sculpture named Between Surface, a Full Page.

[Images courtesy of JamFactory.]