Featured Artist – Gill Hobson

Blown glass pebble

Gill works across media in installation, sculpture and object-based practices. A specialist in glass, colour and light are integral to her works which range from the small and intimate to the large and expansive. Her practice in the public realm embraces large scale projections and light works, engaging with themes of environment and place, while her studio practice focusses on small serial works inspired by her coastal and nature walks.

I met Gill at the Ropewalk in Barton-upon-Humber and was greeted with a very welcoming hug! Her studio at the Ropewalk is slightly bemusing as it’s difficult to believe what she actually produces from this small space. Her work ranges from small hand sized glass objects to large sculptures and installations using glass and light projections. Trying describe her work with words doesn’t do it justice and photography only hints at the complexity and ingenuity underpinning it. Video offers a better idea but you really need to experience her objects and installations in situ.

Gill’s career as an artist, like a lot of artists is long and quite complex but it has always been focussed on ceramics and mainly glass. Her professional career started when studying three dimensional design in Ceramics and Glass on an industrial course at UCE Birmingham. She has worked as a freelance designer for the likes of Royal Dalton, British Glass and Next Interiors. All this and at the same time she has followed an academic path at Sheffield Hallam University*.

Much of Gill’s work employs dichroic glass (Wikipedia). This is a kind of two way mirror which can display multiple different colours depending on the lighting conditions. Gill gave me a simple demonstration which can be seen in the video below.

Gill currently works with curators, producers and commissioners, alongside clients in the cultural, commercial, educational and public sector. She also delivers talks and presentations at academic conference and community events; and is an experienced arts manager and specialist in creating environments for health & wellbeing contexts. Her exhibitions list is extensive*. She has recently created sculptures for Chelsea & Hampton Court show gardens & was a guest speaker at the British Society of Master Glass Painters Centenary Discussion Day – Glass Unbound.