-
- Kevin Gordon, Labyrinth, 2025, blown glass, overlay and inside cased glass, sandblast carved, engraved and polished 400 h x 260mm d
-
- Kevin Gordon, Labyrinth, 2025, blown glass, overlay and inside cased glass, sandblast carved, engraved and polished 400 h x 260mm d
Our December Laurel goes to an artist from the legendary Gordon family, inspired by the beauty that lies beneath the waves.
I am from Western Australia and was very connected to the ocean, living in Fremantle. In 2008, I had an exhibition at Form Gallery in Perth, where I was given access to the Natural Museum Archive to study all the coral and sea forms. This was the seed to the work in the Metamorphogenesis exhibition, looking at how forms are constructed and the fractal elements that repeat to create the total form.
My practice is technically based on working with teams of glassblowers to create forms, and then on applying cold-working glass skills to the surface of the glass to exploit the many qualities of glass through colour, texture, light, and optics to create my designs. I challenge myself to work with glass in new ways and develop new techniques that have distinguished my work from others. As a full-time artist for over 30 years, my work has developed what I call veins of work. The sea form series, which I develop from looking at the structures of corals, urchins and shells, looking at the underlying logic and formulas that create nature’s designs, not so much to imitate but to look at how it is formed. I use this by breaking down the design to the basic elements or fractals, which repeat in the form of a mathematical formula that builds up to make the whole design. I also draw on traditional design structures in my contemporary designs.
Gordon Studio Glassblowers, Red Hill, Victoria, Australia
Kevin Gordon, Morphogenesis, Sabbia Gallery, 8-29 November 2025
About Kevin Gordon
Kevin Gordon was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1968. After living in Scotland (1972-1980), he immigrated to Australia in 1980. Since 1987, he has worked with glass, learning traditional techniques from his family—his parents, Rish and Alasdair Gordon, are glass artists trained at the Edinburgh School of Arts. Developing his own processes, he established a contemporary approach. In 1990, he set up his own studio specialising in Architectural Glass in Perth. He established a cold glass studio in Melbourne in 1995 before returning to Perth to open new cold glass workshops (1999–2018). In Perth, he helped establish the Access Hot Glass Studio at Edith Cowan University. In 2018, he relocated to Victoria and now works from the Gordon Studio Glassblowers. Gordon creates complex glass vessels using over-laid colour blown glass. Decoration is achieved through engraving, sand-blasting, and lathe cutting through the layers, exploiting the glass’s colour and light properties. His work is held in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, and he has won awards like the Tom Malone Glass Prize. He exhibits internationally. Visit gordonstudio.com.au and follow @gordonstudioglassblowers
