Creative collection Glass artist Amanda Dziedzic loves colour
THE KALEIDOSCOPIC WORK OF MELBOURNE-BASED GLASS ARTIST AMANDA DZIEDZIC IS A SENSORIAL EXPERIENCE OF COLOURFUL PROPORTIONS
When admiring the work of Melbourne-based glass artist Amanda Dziedzic, you might start to feel your tastebuds tingle. Nestled on a quiet industrial strip in Heidelberg West, Amanda’s studio houses a candy land of colour and wonder – from confectionery hues to lolly-like curves and fruity forms, her playful art that comes in the form of vases, domes and pots, is an indulgence of both the palette and eye. “Colour can evoke many emotions, but I like to think my work brings in the joy in that simple appreciation for colour,” says Amanda of the sweet assortment of peach, pink and salmon hues that stand proudly on her showroom plinths. “I like to use colour and the medium itself as inspiration to interpret into shapes and forms.”
Amanda took to glass-blowing during her visual arts degree at the University of South Australia and fine arts degree (with a major in glass) at Monash University. Yet it wasn’t until her two-year traineeship at Adelaide’s JamFactory that she felt she’d “really learnt to blow glass” and her fate was sealed. “The process is hot and demanding and by no means an easy material to master,” she says.
“It takes years to develop skill and an understanding of the material but once you master the techniques, a whole new language opens up.”
Today, Amanda has translated her artistic language across the world, undertaking residencies in both Japan and Scotland, collaborating on projects for The Design Files and presenting in a joint exhibition with Jess Dare at Adelaide’s Santos Museum of Economic Botany. It was during these collaborative projects that Amanda realised the importance of working in a team. “Glassblowing is essentially a team sport,” she explains. “I rely heavily on my assistants to make my work – and in most cases it really is a collaboration of skilled artists. Seeing the team in full flight is my most favourite thing of all. It’s truly beautiful to watch.” >
One of her most beloved and technically challenging works,
The Golden Beet, was born during an artist-in-residency program in Scotland. “There’s something about throwing together artists from totally different backgrounds, getting them to work together,” says Amanda. “It breeds a special kind of magic when it clicks.”
A decade later, she continues to work collaboratively. In 2019, Amanda opened her showroom and studio, Hothaus, with friend and business partner Laurel Kohut. At a first glance of the space’s punchy pink walls, thriving plant collection and intricate glass bulbs, it’s difficult to believe that her sensual work is a product of immense labour and gritty industrial machinery. “I like the physicality of glass-blowing and the challenge it brings,” says Amanda. “I love working with my hands and the immediacy of the material. I have done it for so long that it is part of my make-up. So much of my identity is tied up in being a glass-blower that it can be hard to function when I don’t have access to that hot glass.”
Like the glass itself, Amanda’s process is fluid and layered, as she transforms her work in strict stages. “Glass is not something you can have access to at any time, so I like to be prepared when I actually make,” she says of the meticulous process. “I like to produce a form in clear glass first, before I start to add colour into the mix. I like to sit with the works for some time. My studio is always covered in working projects. Everything is a work in progress, really.”
And although Amanda admits there are days when her creative flair doesn’t move beyond a flicker, the artist is confident that
“once the furnace is lit, the possibilities will be endless”.
“I LIKE TO TAKE INSPIRATION FROM THE NATURAL WORLD. I LIKE BOTANICAL REFERENCES AND DRAWING ON MEMORY, PARTICULARLY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES” ~ AMANDA