Matthew Curtis has developed a rigorous material-based practice, focussed on the shifting qualities of glass. His affinity, dexterity, and experience are extensive and experimental. He researches and experiments with unconventional approaches, extending traditional techniques.
Curtis was introduced to glassblowing through an informal apprenticeship, assisting at Denizen Glass in Sydney in the early 90’s. Since then, he has exhibited extensively. His work is regularly curated into exhibitions and International Art Fairs. He is based in Queanbeyan, NSW, working from a home-studio where he and his partner Harriet Schwarzrock run a vibrant glassblowing studio.
His work is widely collected, he has been selected for prestigious residencies and prizes including the Wheaton Arts Creative Glass Fellowship; New Jersey USA, the Corning Museum International Artist in Resident; NY, USA, Canberra Glassworks Fellowship; and the Fuse Prize in Australia. His large scale illuminated public sculpture “Field of Light’ was commissioned and installed in Canberra. His work is included in private and public collections internationally including Corning Museum of Glass, USA. The Saxe Collection of the De Young Museum San Francisco; USA. Ernt Stiftung; Germany. Australian collections include the National Gallery of Australia, Wagga Wagga National Glass Art Collection, Parliament House, and The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
His blown and cast glass objects capture transparent hues which fade and gather in intensity. His keen eye for symmetry and mathematical precision have become peripheral, yielding a more meditative approach to the alignment of form. His current work investigates margins and boundaries. Subtle intersections which magnify the minutia of biological structures and patterns. For Curtis these intersections become metaphors to reflect upon how objects or ideas might yield and accommodate each other, to fit together harmoniously.
