sabbia gallery

Ceramics, Glass + Fibre

var1_054

Firebush, 2010, fused & kiln formed glass, assembled with stainless steel - wall panel, H 48 x W 48 x D 4cm

Main Gallery   3 - 28 August 2010

Emma Varga – Into the Green

Into the Green is an overwhelmingly beautiful and inspiring solo exhibition by Sydney based artist Emma Varga. This new body of sculptural and installation works has sprung from the artist’s all consuming passion for the medium of glass and further reinforced by her many travels. Emma has an enduring focus on the small details of colour, pattern and repetition that she continues to use in her work and has noted through photography along the way. With these images as her starting point she soon amassed over 3000 images, and when looked at collectively she realised that they were made up of images of the ‘quiet achievers’- hedges, green fences, weeds & grass. She seems inextricably drawn to capturing the underdog…the details that most would overlook in our hectic lives. These details are apparent in her work, as the nature of the construction of those tall towers and milestones she is known for are dependent on small segments of glass, stacked and repeated over and over again, then fused together to create a unified and solid whole.

Emma has been focused on abstracting nature and turning the elements into pattern, much as nature does. This sense of repetition of pattern is a key element in the glass technique that Emma uses and reflects the enormous amount of foliage that a hedge or bush has. While to the casual observer the hedge may be green, to look more carefully, the viewer starts to see limes, olives, deep greens, yellows and perhaps vivid reds. By singling out the details, Emma allows the viewer to focus on the colours, light and pattern.

Into the Green gives us more than we expect. Emma has taken the work to a completely new place for herself and the viewer. Thousands of elements are now assembled and constructed in works that resemble even more the parts of flora that so inspire her. Emma has pushed herself even further again with this exhibition and the results are truly remarkable.