Thesis (MArt(Research))--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis--Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität zu Berlin. / List of enameled glass of Thuringian origin in Thuringian museums: p. 10-19. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 7-9).

Although many texts discuss studio glass blowing in Australia, few focus on the South Australian situation and even fewer are written by studio glass blowers themselves. As a studio glass blower, I bring to this research experiential knowledge of practice to offer new insights into studio glass blowing. The study accesses knowledge that is implicit, embodied and tacit; knowledge derived from living and working within a particular community. In using this knowledge, I highlight the importance of both financial survival and the development of practice in creating a practitioner's perspective of studio glass blowing in South Australia. The study is designed as an ethnography. This incorporated a review of the literature and images found in published texts; interview and questionnaire data; anecdotal narratives and familiarity with the South Australian glass blowing community; and tacit knowledge of glass blowing practice, glass blowing skills and techniques. This tacit knowledge was accessed through an auto-ethnographic investigation of re-making the selected artefacts. The selection of these artefacts was based on my personal knowledge of glass blowing processes, first hand relationships with individual glassblowers, observation of artefacts and prior experience of working as a studio glass blower.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1995. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf [9]).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1981. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 28).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1984. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

My work centers around the fact that I am a glassblower working with glass objects within a glasstradition. My BFA project from 2009 entitled ”the bastards have landed” was my first attempt atmapping out what that ultimately meant to me as a practitioner in a contemporary craft context. Theresult of that project was a discovery of my making as a way of using tradition to tell stories aboutitself. My conclusion was that by using the traditional objects as symbols I had a channel throughwhich I could communicate. Glass is a material who´s domains are closely connected to a domesticand consumeristic environment. It is put in a position where we react to its appearance with ourbody memory while also carries different social and material values depending on its appearance.When entering the master program at Konstfack University of Art Craft and Design, my idea wasthat over the next coming two years my focus would lie in the exploration and research of thesemechanisms as well as my own position as a maker and practitioner within these mechanisms.Craft, design and making are subjects that are constantly being talked about and analyzed from anumber of perspectives. There are philosophers, sociologists, historians and art historians constantlynegotiating what the field of craft is dealing with. This is something that I over the years have foundas something quite disturbing in some cases. This leaves me in a situation where I am no longerdefining my own practice. And when I am to define my practice I always do it through the ideas ofpeople from ”outside” my own position. There are many good writers from variousdisciplines writing about craft and making that I have had great use of and input from but I feel thatthere is a big lack of craft practitioners who are defining their discipline from their own standpoint.This situation is to me a bit outdated.So as mentioned above I have entered the master program with an idea to find out how to deal withveiled subjects such as tacit knowledge and material culture in order to try to transform them into acommunicative body of knowledge. My work during the past three semesters have been spread outover a number of different projects dealing with these subjects both based on objects as well asforming a discussion together with my master group.The main cause in this thesis is as always in my case to shed light on and to formulate questionsand hopefully answers around my own practice and its related subjects.The main reason for this is that craft and making as a tool for knowledge production is a cloudedsubject but according to me it holds a lot of potential. Not only for understanding questions outsidethe field but also to unveil and strengthen the practice itself.

My engagement with making is a metaphor that contains the interior landscapes of my mind. I continue to explore it by comparing and contrasting exterior and interior, investigating surface and depth, covering and exposing, and taking apart and putting together. I work to translate my individual experiences and emotions into a tangible form. The visual dialogues that I engage in with my work explore a range of aspects that are inherent and specific to my Japanese cultural heritage. It often springs from my daily encounters with the subtle nuances and observable oddities of living in the “West”. These experiences have added to my self-awareness, and my sense of identity. I’ve always been fascinated by the visual phenomenon that occurs when light is transmitted, reflected, and/or refracted on/in/and through glass materials. I integrate these observable optical phenomena into personal narratives; by using “the-perceptional-shifts” that only the quality of glass it-self can generate, I transform my emotions into concrete materiality. The body of work that has developed over the past two years focuses on integrating my experiences, emotions and feelings, distance and time, and memories of and longing for my twin sister. I marry new technology with old, and attempting to bring the sensitivity of craft to new methods of making. Embedded in this work is my passion for life, materials, and making.

This thesis project consists of 19 sculptures. The medium is hot blown glass. The work interprets and extends the visual and metaphorical qualities of bagpipes. The utilization of the German dudelsack references the playful improvisational nature of these international and culturally diverse forms.

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