In The Spotlight

1st - 31st August - Maggie Hilton

 
Maggie Hilton graduated with a first class honours degree in Glass and Surface Pattern Design from The University of Central Lancashire in June 1998. Since leaving college her work has developed significantly and she has exhibited her glass work nationally, including an exhibition at The National Glass Centre in Sunderland.

"Deterioration is the stage of nature's ever changing process that I find most exciting and often the most beautiful. It is the spirit of this and the suggestion of changes created by the passing of time that I try to convey in my artwork.

The initial stage of my development process usually involves working from life or photographs of the objects / processes I am interested in. Mixed media drawings then follow and these become the working drawings that shape and influence my three dimensional glass pieces.
Wherever practicable I work with recycled materials such as window glass, waste crystal batch and electrical copper wires. Although the processes of lost wax casting and slumping that I currently employ are very different in method, both allow me to apply organic textural qualities and effect the aged, torn away surfaces that are fundamental to my piece.
Sometimes a piece will have the appearance of nature's decay upon growth upon decay, sometimes result is a piece that barely seems held together by a fine web of threads. I build materials such as copper wire and powder and metal foils into my glass pieces, the result being a highly textured, sometimes eroded surface."
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