French has completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Australia (1997) and Honours year at Canberra School of Art, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (2003). And has completed an Associate of Design at JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide, Australia (1999)
He has exhibited extensively since 2000. Selected solo and group exhibitions include Collect09 Saatchi Gallery London UK, Look Forward – Traver Gallery Tacoma USA, Whitehot – Asialink touring show – Gallery of Art and Design Silpakom University Bangkok Thailand (2009), ‘In Essence- The Legacy of Stephen Procter’ ‘Sabbia Gallery Australia 2008, Artefact of the Accident (solo) Canberra Glassworks, Canberra, Australia and Jamfactory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide, Australia (2007), A Little Drop of Kindness Craft ACT, Canberra, Australia, Glass Art in Australia, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney, Australia (2001), Visionary – New Australian Glass, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney, Australia (2000). He has been a frequent finalist in the Ranamok Glass Prize since 2000.
French is the recipient of several awards and grants, including The Stephen Procter Fellowship, Canberra School of Art, Australian National University, Australia (2007), Artist in Residence, Northlands Creative Glass, Scotland (2007), Artist in Residence, Canberra School of Art, ANU, Australia (2007), Lino Tagliapietra International Scholarship, Pilchuck Glass School, USA (2001), The Ian Potter Cultural Trust Award, Ian Potter Foundation, Australia (2001).
It is extremely satisfying working with glass in its molten state. It is immediate and spontaneous yet I am increasingly aware of a historical relevance for its function. My blown vessels concentrate more on technical dexterity and colour applications than on constructing narratives. My aim with this work is to be playful in personalising technique.
It’s a totally different thing when working with glass cold, but no less satisfying. Introducing kiln forming and casting processes is invigorating the scope of my practice. Time is stretched in a very different thread. I recognise the true evolution of my commitment lies here.
When I return to the archive of my practise what I feel is an honesty that embraces difference, without seeking repetition. Over time though I can connect an aesthetic determination and conceptual focus, but the construction of the work can be resolutely isolated.
At this pivot, where past and present combine, an essential beauty is found in the development of a personal identity that is both effective and evolutionary in will. I am deeply committed to the process involved in realising a conceptual diameter. It’s taking a long time but I am slowly coming to understand the material in many ways.
Thoughts on human behaviour and character have been the constant foundation for what I explore in my work. Through issues of human destructiveness and mortality, necessity and sacrifice, I have been seeking verification. The artefact of this inquiry is firmly grounded in the materiality of the studio, of the daily routine, in the art of living.
I am fascinated by paradox and I am at times overwhelmed by beauty, I spend hours contemplating the relationship between things in order to clarify the absurdities of transitional permanence. I examine hazards to connectivity.
In the real and in the imaginary, my work has patiently evolved. As my understanding of the material develops so too does my relationship to the world. And it is a very colourful place.
Brenden Scott French
