Artwork: Tower 23 2014
Artist: Elizabeth Kelly
Medium: 92 drop cast glass units, acrylic gaskets, industrial grade silicon adhesive; mdf pedestal
Dimensions: 115 x 25 x 25cm
Acquisition: An acquisition of the ACT Legislative Assembly Art Advisory Committee, 2016
Asset no: OLA001983
About the Work
For the past decade Kelly has been exploring architectural structure and pro- portion and has used this as a metaphor for human communication. Tower 23 references the decorative potential of brickwork, as seen in chimneys, turrets, lighthouses and towers. The modular construction highlights her interest in the repetition of units, and the geometry that underpins both design and architecture. Working with glass allows Kelly to explore the unique and subtle properties of colour and the effects of light on form.
About the Artist
Kelly completed a BA in the Glass Workshop at the Institute of the Arts (now School of Art), Australian National University in 1991; and in 1997 a Master of Visual Art, from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Kelly has presented solo exhibitions since 1996 and has been included in many group exhibitions here and overseas.
From 1997-2000 she was the Head of the Glass Studio at JamFactory Contemporary Craft & Design, Adelaide. She established Studio Tangerine in the ACT in 2004. The high calibre of her work has been recognized over the years with grants, awards and commissions. In 2002
Kelly was awarded a Creative Glass Center of America Fellowship, New Jersey, USA; in 2009 a Capital Arts Patrons Organisation (CAPO) Fellowship, and a Winston Churchill Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 2010 for which she travelled internationally researching cast glass in architectural applications both historical and contemporary. In 2014 she undertook an Artist-in-residency at GlazenHuis, Lommel, Belgium. She has been a finalist several times in various competitive awards such as the Hobart Art Prize, the Willoughby Sculpture Prize
and Ranamok.
Her work is in many public and private collections such as: Lommel City Hall Collection, Belgium; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT; Australian Parliament House, Canberra, ACT; Seto City Art Museum, Japan; Wagga Wagga City Art Gallery, NSW; American Museum of Glass, New Jersey, USA; Artbank, Sydney, NSW; and AND Collection, Canberra, ACT.