The Mirage exhibition stands as a powerful testament to the enduring partnership between London Glassblowing and the Contemporary Glass Society (CGS). Every few years, this significant collaboration transforms our gallery into a showcase of extraordinary talent, bringing together CGS members from around the UK and abroad both established masters and emerging visionaries.

As one of the founding members of the CGS, Peter Layton has championed glass artists throughout his career. Through exhibitions like Mirage, London Glassblowing provides an invaluable platform for artists to exhibit in the heart of London, offering both visibility and credibility to their work.

With 70 artists represented, Mirage celebrates the remarkable diversity of contemporary glass. From delicate blown forms to architectural and cast pieces, the exhibition showcases the versatility of glass as a medium and the boundless creativity of its practitioners. Most importantly, it serves as a vital showcase for new talent, ensuring the continued evolution of this extraordinary art form.

View the Mirage catalogue here

 

Anna Alsina Bardagí

How did you start working with glass?

My journey into glass art began in 2011, when I transitioned from a career in corporate communications. What began as a creative experiment soon became a lifelong commitment. Since then, I’ve developed a practice centered on kiln casting and cold-working eco-optical glass. I’m drawn to the slow, meticulous processes that allow me to build abstract inner structures.

Mitosis by Anna Alsina Bardagí

How does your work interpret or engage with the concept of "Mirage"? 


Glass, by nature, lends itself to the idea of a mirage—its transparency, reflectivity, and refraction can create effects that challenge our sense of space and depth. Mitosis taps into this by exploring the invisible processes of life—cellular division, growth, and transformation. The sculpture invites viewers to look deeper, to question what is real and what is an optical illusion, much like one might when chasing a mirage.

Could you describe your practice and why you've chosen this particular method to express your artistic vision?

My work explores the tension between transparency and mass through the use of eco-optical glass. I combine kiln casting techniques with precision polishing to control optical properties within solid glass. I am drawn to how the purity of this material transforms perception—how it bends, diffuses, and concentrates light to reveal hidden forms. 

What has been your path to this point, and what does exhibiting at London Glassblowing mean for your artistic development?

My path has been guided by curiosity and a deep interest in working with a material that has the potential to alter perception. To show my work at London Glass Blowing is to feel part of a wider community that shares a deep respect for glass and its unlimited possibilities. It is an honour that brings with it a sense of connection and encouragement to keep experimenting and evolving

Has your Spanish background influenced your approach to glass as an artistic medium?

I believe so—though often in ways I’ve only come to recognise over time. Growing up in Spain, particularly near the Mediterranean, I was surrounded by nature and mesmerising night skies. That quiet vastness—the contrast between the groundedness of the earth and the mystery of the cosmos—continues to shape my practice. Working with glass allows me to explore both: the organic patterns of the natural world and the intangible structures of something far greater and unknowable.

What technical challenges did you overcome to achieve these suspended internal structures, and how has your process evolved?

Creating the suspended internal structures within Mitosis involved a slow and complex process. One of the biggest challenges was developing a method that would keep these internal elements stable and precisely positioned during the casting phase. To achieve this, I used experimental cold-working techniques on the glass before casting—cutting and shaping forms that were later fused within the mass. The work was cast using a 14-stage, temperature-monitored kiln process, carefully calibrated to control the flow and stability of the glass throughout the cycle.

Controlling how these elements maintain their form during casting has taken years of trial, error, and careful adjustment. Over time, I’ve refined this process to improve control and clarity, while also adapting to the specific properties of eco-optical glass, which offers material purity and environmental awareness.

 

Julie Coakley 

How does your work interpret or engage with the concept of "Mirage"? 

A mirage is an optical illusion and Balthazar the giant jelly fish most definitely plays with the brain when looking at him from certain angles. Many people ask me how I managed to get a jelly fish encased in glass ! He is in fact created on 28 layers of glass. His body size recedes at the back and front to give a three dimensional optical illusion . The transparency of the glass combined with the effect of polishing helps to create amazing reflections.

Balthazar A Giant Jelly Fish by Julie Coakley

Each of you employs different techniques in your glasswork. Could you describe your practice and why you've chosen this particular method to express your artistic vision?

As a totally blind glass maker I have developed tactile methods of working . These methods include shaping sheet glass by hand, manipulating individual glass stringers, and building multilayered sculptures. These techniques make my work unique and I have discovered that because the techniques are so laborious and time consuming and often repetitive, no other glass makers work in the same way as me. Translating what I experience around me and memories from the past are all part of the process of designing and developing my work. My work often contains several hundred hand made pieces of glass.

What has been your path to this point, and what does exhibiting at London Glassblowing mean for your artistic development?

Having taught and exhibited in the UK Europe and the Middle East , I am delighted to be exhibiting at London Glassblowing and I hope that this is the beginning of a working relationship that will continue in the future. 

Can you explain the technical process of creating these suspended forms within solid glass? What particular challenges have you overcome?

Balthazar the giant jelly fish is created by preparing 28 pieces of clear glass. The body of the jelly fish is then made 10 times with each piece towards the back and front reducing by 5 mm . This reduction creates the optical three dimensional effect. Tentacles in various colours are then created by manipulation glass stringers with candle heat. Once all the components are ready and clean ten jelly fish are made and the 28 layers are doubled up to give a 6mm base. This is all fired on full fuse at 804 degrees centigrade . After the first firing I am left with 14 tiles , 10 of which include the image of a jelly fish . These tiles are then cleaned and placed in a vermiculite casting box. The two extra layers are clear tiles are placed at the top and bottom to allow for excess glass that may be removed during the polishing process. The vermiculite with the prefired tiles is returned to the kiln to be cast into a solid block . This process takes between 5 and 7 days. Finally he is ready to be polished . A truly tactile process evolves into a visual sculpture.

The obvious challenge to overcome working as a totally blind glass maker is finding the colours I want to use by using my very clever voice labelling system.

Are there particular themes that recur in your pieces

I tend to have a recurring image which is a multilayered spiralling daisy . This was inspired by the hallucinatory spirographic style of daisies that occurred during my first 3 months of going blind. They allow me to play with colour and to capture movement in a static form , My largest block of daisies contained 100 layers of glass. As a blind glass maker you have to be incredibly patient.

 

Jo Mitchell

How does your work interpret or engage with the concept of "Mirage"? 

For me, Mirage is a reference to the internal space beyond the surface of the glass, its optical qualities and what can be seen and contained within it. This extra dimension so specific to glass, captivates me.

Could you describe your practice and why you've chosen this particular method to express your artistic vision?

Sometimes, to realise an idea, a technical problem needs solving. I enjoy that process. When I discovered the precision of waterjet cutting at the University of Sunderland, I wanted to harness it as a way of creating intricate, controlled bubbles within kiln-formed glass, using digital imagery. I was able to develop three-dimensional air entrapment and layered bubbles in glass that hadn’t been done before. The resulting techniques became my PhD in 2017 and I’ve been developing that body of work ever since. 

The Contemporary Glass Society brings together diverse artists. What does being a member mean to you?

Collectively we can do greater things than individually, and I value the support, knowledge and camaraderie of other glassmakers and enthusiasts. Being a member of the Contemporary Glass Society brings fantastic opportunities to exhibit in prominent galleries such as London Glassblowing and to show alongside renowned makers.

Host VI by Jo Mitchell

Explain your artistic philosophy

For me, the materiality of glass is the starting point. Having an understanding and skills in manipulating this difficult but compelling material is important to me. By exploring its many paradoxical properties, ideas emerge. Form and the interior space of glass has preoccupied me for years. Reflecting on the material and the symbolism that it carries in its different guises continues to inspire me. 

Describe your practice in creating these internal elements? What particular challenges did you overcome?

It took over four years of research to develop and refine the precision air entrapment technique to a point where it was repeatable and transferable across various kilns and at different scales. When one aspect is changed then the firing cycle must be revised and retested, so it took a long time to discover all the variables and adapt the process. The work wouldn’t have been possible without the fantastic staff, facilities and peer support at the University of Sunderland. To me it is a tragedy that the renowned Glass and Ceramics course at Sunderland is being closed down.  

How does your work for the 'Mirage' exhibition connect to environmental concerns or our relationship with water environments?

My work is concerned with interconnectedness and how ‘we’ relate to each other. My hope is that going forward we find ways to connect and acknowledge our interdependence to find a way forward to address the challenges of climate change.

As you look ahead to future projects, how do you see the techniques and themes in this piece evolving or transforming?

In my Host series, the digitally precise figures become expanded, organic and ambiguous. I am interested in the technical and conceptual interplay of the emergence and distortion of the human form and the contained space– I feel there is more to explore around this theme.

 

Stacey Poultney

Could you describe your practice and why you've chosen this particular method to express your artistic vision?

Glass has been a lifelong passion of mine. For the past 15 years, I've worked in higher education as both a practitioner and educator, specialising in stained, architectural, and contemporary glass. Although I began with stained glass, my personal work now focuses on three-dimensional glass, an area I've been drawn to throughout my career. My knowledge of flat glass, along with bonding and coldworking techniques, allows me to build layered sculptures that explore depth and structure. This process is supported by my background in mechanical engineering, metalworking, machining, and woodworking, all of which play a key role in how my work is built and presented.

Urban Echoes by Stacey Poultney

What themes, stories, or messages do you aim to convey through your glass art? How does the medium itself enhance these narratives?

I take inspiration from graffiti culture, urban decay, brutalist architecture, and industrial design. I'm particularly interested in the contrast between rigid, repetitive structures and the unpredictable patterns of decay. Float glass, a material commonly found in architectural glazing, forms the base of the current format of my work, chosen for its subtle tint and uniformity.

The organic forms in your glass have a fascinating texture. Could you talk about the technical process behind creating these effects?

The organic forms within my bonded float glass cubes are intended to suggest the effects of decaying ferrous metals, giving the glass a metallised, textural quality. They were created through deep sandblasting, penetrating four of the six layers with 120-grit silicon carbide. A spherical diamond coated bur was used to apply textural nodules, with cold painting techniques adding additional colour and depth. The cubes were then bonded into their housings using polyurethane adhesive, allowing for expansion between the materials and allowing for both vertical and horizontal display.

Your work creates an interesting dialogue between the glass elements and their colourful display platforms. How did this presentation style develop in your practice?

The enclosures and angled housings are constructed from birch plywood and painted with graffiti aerosols. I made custom fasteners to allow the angled housings to be detached and reconfigured, and button fixings on the rear provide a strong, simple installation method.

How do you see your work contributing to the evolution of contemporary glass art? What boundaries are you hoping to push through your practice?

I have begun developing a system to facilitate the transition from static to automated installations, utilising components commonly found in industry to fabricate armatures to mount and automate my glass sculptures to present glass beyond traditional expectations. I'm also planning to introduce cast and blown glass elements to push my practice in new directions.