3 - 22 May 2012
about the exhibition
Brenden Scott French has earned a reputation as one of Australia’s most innovative and thought-provoking glass artists. Human behaviour, character and narrative are the foundations of exploration in Brenden’s work. His kilnformed sculptures and wall pieces are carefully layered and assembled to develop pattern and form with this physical process reflecting our proclivity to turn stories of personal and social history into grand, national narratives. “There is a particular imaginary and recurring landscape from which a complex tale of place and identity is revealed”. Brenden has called this place ‘Futures Pass’. The work for this exhibition delves into the character of the explorer and adventurer of this landscape. Careful consideration of medium and technique is characteristic of his work, with a lively interplay between formal technical elements and gestural, expressive painterly surfaces. As opposed to its luminescent qualities, it was the strong hues, opacity and density of colour that attracted Brenden to the medium of glass and he enjoys working with its immediate and spontaneous nature. Here we see him further exploring its qualities of transparency. As Brenden notes, “in the real and in the imaginary, my work has patiently evolved. As my understanding of the material develops so too does my relationship with the world.”
Brenden has trained extensively in glass practice, completing a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the Sydney College of the Arts in 1997 and a Bachelor of Art with Honours at the Canberra School of Art in 2003. Brenden has also undertaken residencies at the Canberra Glassworks, University of South Australia and the Northlands Creative Glass Centre in Scotland. He has received numerous awards including the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Award (2001), the Lino Tagliapietra International Scholarship to study at the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle (2001) and the Stephen Procter Fellowship (2007).
