Glacier: A Study in Retreat

Cast recycled glass, five vertical panels

Glacier: A Study in Retreat explores the visual and material qualities of glacial ice through a process of repeated accumulation and removal. Made from recycled glass, the five vertical panels were built up through multiple firings, cut apart and fired again. I then deliberately removed sections of the glass to reveal the intricate, ice-like formations beneath the surface. Through this process, layers of material were accumulated, altered and exposed, producing textures that evoke the complex surfaces of glaciers.

Living near the glaciers of the Canadian Rockies, I was increasingly aware of conversations surrounding glacial retreat and climate change. I became interested in the vulnerability of these immense formations and the sense of loss associated with their gradual disappearance. The five panels present the glacier in fragments, with the spaces between them suggesting interruption, absence and the passage of time.

Rather than attempting to represent a particular glacier, I used the material properties of recycled glass to explore the tension between permanence and impermanence. The work considers how something seemingly monumental can remain vulnerable to change, and how fragments might suggest the presence of something gradually disappearing.

Collection: Private