Nina Casson McGarva grew up in rural central France in the middle of the Burgundy countryside. She comes from a makers family who make crafts and art work with clay, textiles, wood and metal. Growing up in an environment of nature and craft has definitely influenced her life and art work so far. Nina started learning the basic technical skills of glass blowing in 2007 In the National French Glass school in Yzeure, then at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts on Bornholm where she stared to use other glass techniques such as kiln casting and fusing to then start experimenting combining several techniques.
She continued her experiments in artist residencies in the USA at StarWorks,NC and Pilchuck glass school,WA and recently in Kobe, Japan. She has worked for several different glass artists as an intern or in exchange of time for her own work. Since summer 2019 Nina has her own studio in south Herefordshire.
Nina’s work is an abstract representation inspired from several elements she admires in nature. A lot of her work is a mixture of inspirations, mostly from the woods such as seeds, leafs, bark, petals, lichen and mushrooms found in the place she grew up in, in central France. The inspirational characteristics she uses are shapes and patterns that are found in different natural environments which allows the viewer to see the piece from their own perspective. Her current work combines several techniques with the goal of creating a unique aesthetic. In this recent body of work, Nina uses kiln casting for the main technique to make the texture pattern, then hot manipulation for the organic shape and hand engraving for the cold work finishing.
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Due to the Tier 4 restrictions, the gallery is currently closed. We will, however, be hosting a number of exhibitions and Artist Talks online to keep you connected.