See Sunderland based artist Ayako Tani's lamp worked glass technique
7 July – 16 September 2018
As shipbuilding disappeard from the River Wear, another culture of shipbuiling arose in Sunderland - that of glass ships in bottles. In the late 1970s, newly redundant scientific glassblowers from James A. Jobling (Pyrex) started making glass ships in bottles, and it quickly developed into a successful business. As part of her residency at the National Glass Centre, glass artist and researcher Dr Ayako Tani has been investigating this aspect of local history, as well as learning glass blowing techniques from the veteran makers.
Ayako Tani is an artist based in Sunderland who specialises in using a technique called lamp worked glass. This approach allows the artist to soften glass rods or tubes with a flame to manipulate them into the desired form. Ayako has researched the work of other specialists who have used this technique to create glass ships in bottles and has undertaken a residency at National Glass Centre, to create new work based on the same theme.
During your visit to National Glass Centre you can also see our permanent exhibition ‘Stories of Glass in Sunderland’ explaining the history linking glass to Sunderland from 674AD onwards. A selection of works from our collection are on permanent display. You can also see new work by artists Vanessa Cutler (until 15 April) and Sun Ju Lee (21 April – 3 June) in the Research Gallery.
