Jessica Loughlin: of light
- When 14 Jan - 19 Mar 2023
- Where
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Address
Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd Paddington NSW 2021
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Hours
WED TO FRI 10AM–5PM; SAT TO SUN 12–5PM
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Phone
+61 2 8936 0888
JamFactory’s ICON series celebrates the achievements of South Australia’s most influential visual artists working in craft-based media.
Jessica Loughlin is one of Australia’s most internationally acclaimed glass artists and is renowned for her innovative technical approach to kiln-formed glass. She creates ethereal glass works that explore her fascination with the beauty of emptiness and her extensive research into light and space. A studio glass artist for over twenty-five years, Loughlin has dedicated her practice to capturing the transient qualities of light and the quiet sense of contemplation it provokes.
Known for her understated aesthetic, Loughlin takes her artistic cues from the vast, flat landscapes and salt lakes of South Australia. She began her exploration of the horizon line in her student years and is drawn to the inherent quietness and stillness of the land. Loughlin’s work is characterised by a strict reductive sensibility and restricted use of colour, with a gentle palette of soft, muted hues and the motif of the mirage reoccurring frequently across her practice.
In her recent work, Loughlin uses a milky, semi-translucent Opaline glass that behaves similarly to the light in the sky. Fine molecules in the glass split the light spectrum into cool and warm colours, reflecting blue tones or transmitting warm orange and pink tones. At first glance, the sculptural pieces might appear white, but on closer inspection, their colour changes subtly as the transmitted light shifts throughout the day. The wall pieces are also composed of white opaline glass but reflect only blue light and cause the glass to appear blue. These blue tones reference the colour of distance and the unreachable spaces that can be looked upon but never reached.
Building on the capacity of glass to both hold and reflect light, Loughlin’s characteristically minimalist glass works contain a startling spectrum of colour and detail, subtly changing colour tone in response to the surrounding environment. While glass is undoubtedly Loughlin’s material, her subject is more intangible: seeing, experiencing, and reflecting on the world around us, with each piece forming a poetic statement about the nature of perception.
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Curated by Caitlin Eyre
JamFactory’s ICON series celebrates the achievements of South Australia’s most influential artists working in craft-based media.
'Jessica Loughlin: of light' is a JamFactory touring exhibition assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Jessica Loughlin acknowledges the support of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet through an Arts South Australia Grant.
Public Program
Moving : Still – A Visual Meditative Sound Experience
12pm Sunday 15 January 2023
Take a reflective journey amongst the ethereal works of Jessica Loughlin with responding compositions by South Australian cellist Hilary Kleinig. This encounter leads participants through a series of meditative states, encouraging a sense of stillness as they take in their surroundings. Held in the gallery amongst the exhibition's quiet, contemplative works, this sound experience encourages participants to explore Jessica's fascination with the beauty of emptiness.
In Conversation: Jessica Loughlin & Caitlin Eyre
2pm Sunday 15 January 2023
Learn about the practice of Jessica Loughlin in conversation with Caitlin Eyre, JamFactory Curator and Exhibitions Manager.
Tile Image: Jessica Loughlin, receptor of light xix 2022. Photography: Rachel Harris
Banner Image: Jessica Loughlin, halites 2021. Photography: Grant Hancock
Installation view, 'JamFactory ICON Jessica Loughlin: of light', UNSW Galleries, 2023. Photography: Jacquie Manning