Helen Slater Glass
“Captured in Helen Slater’s highly accomplished glass artworks, landscapes seem to float in time like a memory”.
“Qualities of the material are exploited with technical brilliance as the glass is made to magnify, refract, distort or obscure; it shines, reflects, glistens and at times may appear frosted or hazy. It plays with the illusion of oscillation, depth and three-dimensionality in a nod to the tradition of Op Art; as the viewer shifts position around the piece, subtle changes in how the image is seen occur making these living dynamic objects”.
Artwave West Gallery, Dorset
Based in Oxfordshire, Helen’s contemporary glass sculptures draws inspiration from spaces and places within changing environments.
Her kiln formed glass work explores the creation of the 3D or spatial image, within glass, and the notion of glass as a facilitator, in working with and challenging our perception of space.
These unique glass pieces vary in scale from dramatic life size outdoor figures to delicate table top casts for interiors.
Helen also lecturers on a part-time basis at De Montfort University, Leicester, in addition to teaching online course for Warm Glass and in person courses at The Glass Hub, Wiltshire and Bild Werk Frauenau, in Bavaria Germany.
‘My kiln formed glass work has always been inspired by nature. I love walking through the countryside with my dog and taking in the magnificent landscape around my home and workshop’.
‘These places hold a significant resonance for me, their beauty, grandeur and historical associations are captivating.’
‘I was lucky to be brought up in rural Ormskirk, Lancashire, and this allowed me to make strong connections with the landscape and open spaces as a child, which I have never lost’.
Walking in the New Forest with my dog Willow …. happy days!
CV
Profile
Glass Artist and Lecturer; Helen graduated from The Royal College of Art, with a master’s degree in 3D Design: Glass & Ceramics, in 1996 and since then has been lecturing and making glass sculpture from her workshop in the Cotswolds.
She completed a part-time PhD by practice, in 2021, at The Royal College of Art, London.
Professional Qualifications
2021 PhD in Glass Research at The Royal College of Art, London
2007 Cert Ed - University of Bedfordshire
1994 - 1996 M.A. Degree - The Royal College of Art, London
1991 - 1994 BA (Hons) Glass & Ceramics - Sunderland University
Lecturing & Studio Experience
Sept 2022 - 2026 - External Examiner - The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Swansea
Sept 2013 – to the Present day – Senior Associate Lecturer – De Montfort University, Leicester
Sept 2009 – July 2017 – Senior Lecturer – Oxford Brookes University, Oxford
Sept 2006 - 2009 - Associate Lecturer - Oxford Brookes University
Sept 2000 - 2009 - Part-time Lecturer - Oxford & Cherwell Valley College, Oxford
Jan 1997 - Feb 1998 - Studio Assistant - Rebecca Newnham, Glass Artist
Jan 1995 - Sept 1996 - Part-time Lecturer - Middlesex University
Exhibitions
2024 Hemisphere, The SPring Gallery, Cheltenham, England
2024 The British Glass Biennale 2024, The International Festival of Glass, Stourbridge, England
2023 The Horbowy International Glass Competition, The Giant Mountains Museum, Jelenia Góra & the E. Geppert Academy of Art & Design, Wrocław, Poland
2023 Tg: Transitions in Kiln-Glass, Bullseye Glass Projects, The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, USA
2022-2023 Tg: Transitions in Kiln-Glass, Bullseye Glass Projects, The Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, USA
2022 Tg: Transitions in Kiln-Glass, Bullseye Glass Projects, The Bellevue Arts Centre, Washington, USA
2022 Collect 2022, Somerset House, London, with Design Nation, England
2021 The International KOGEI Award Exhibition, Toyama Prefectural Museum of art & Design, Japan
2021 The British Glass Biennale 2021 The International Festival of Glass, Stourbridge, England
2021 Op Art/Glass, The Imagine Museum, St, Petersburg, Florida USA
2019 The British Glass Biennale 2019, The International Festival of Glass, Stourbridge, England
2019 Graduate Show 2019 – The Royal College of Art, London
2018 Work in Progress Show, The Royal College of Art, London
2018 London Design Week, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
2018 Glass, Catherine Hammond Gallery, Cork, Ireland
2018 Winter, The Pyramid Gallery, York, England
2017 The British Glass Biennale 2017, The International Festival of Glass, Stourbridge, England
2017 Fresh Art, The Hadfield Gallery, Cheltenham, England
2017 Work in Progress Show, The Royal College of Art, London
2016 Solo Show, Art Jericho, Oxford, England
2016 Affordable Art Fair, London
2016 Catherine Hammond Gallery, Cork
2014 Work in Progress show, The Royal College of Art
2013 ‘White Out’ The Contemporary Applied Arts, London
2012 International Contemporary Glass, The Gallery, Redchurch Street, London
2011 Selected Member of the Contemporary Applied Arts, London
2010 Blast, Zest Gallery, London
2010 Remarkable Glass, The Contemporary Applied Arts, London
2010 The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London
2009 Six @ Potato Town, The Potato Town Gallery, Oxfordshire
2009 Melting Point, The Pyramid Gallery, York
2009 Fresh Air, Quenington Sculpture Trust
2008 Artspace, The Barn Galleries, Henley on Thames
2007 Contemporary Glass, The Pyramid Gallery, York
2006 Fairy Tales, The Exchange Theatre, Manchester
2005 Studio Glass, The Cowdy Gallery, Glos
2004 Contemporary Glass, The Church Gallery, Dartmoor
2003 Frosted The Jelly Leg’d Chicken Gallery, Reading
2002 The Open, The Chapel Gallery, Lancashire
2001 Winners, Rowe & More, Westminster, London
1999 Selected, The Stroud House Gallery, Stroud
1998 Hanover Arts Fair, Hanover, Germany
1997 Hamburg Collectors Fair, Hamburg, Germany
1997 Two Man Show, Gallery ‘L’, Hamburg, Germany
1996 Venice Aperto Vetro, Venice Biennale, Venetian Gallery, Murano, Italy
Awards
1997 Charlie Bray Award for Glasswork.
2021 Second Place, Contemporary Glass Society and Glass Seller Guild, Graduate Review 2021.
2022 Bronze Award, Bullseye Projects, Tg: Transitions in Kiln-Glass Exhibition, Bellevue Arts Museum, USA.
Collections
Woodstock Museum Art Collection, Oxfordshire, UK
Imagine Museum Collection, Florida, USA
Consultancy
Public Commissions
2021-2024 Community Foundation for Calderdale, Community Spirit Awards.
2021-2024 Business for Calderdale Awards, Calderdale.
2000 - 2009 'The Public Servant of the Year Awards' - Annual Commission sponsored by The Cabinet Office, CIPFA and Public Finance.
2000 - 2009 'The Reporting & Accountability Awards' - Annual Commission. Sponsored by CIPFA and Price Waterhouse Coopers.
2008 - 'Outdoor Courtyard Sculpture' - Commission for the Radcliffe Hospital Trust, Churchill Hospital, Oxford
2007 - 'Oxfordshire & the South East Bioscience Awards' - Annual Commission by OBN