Defying the odds

Emma Camden’s approach to her cast glass is surprisingly intuitive given how the work is resolved despite its complexity. She perceives the seemingly fractured structure as reflecting internal concerns, and the whole work becomes a way of trying to lead the soul to a higher plane. Her process starts with a block of wax from which she creates a mould that she draws on. This indicates her next steps of creating the many facets that are revealed in reverse on the finished work. Emma was once told glass doesn’t do angles, yet that is the essence of her practice, and she thrives on the laborious, somewhat fraught mouldmaking. The artist relishes defying the odds of what glass can do – so often with cast glass it is impossible to visualise the final piece until the process is completed using patient hand-finishing techniques. Only then does the play of light become a defining characteristic. Helen Schamroth