The Bride (2013) pate de verre glass, size: 535 x 380 x 320 mm
He Does (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x ø): 535 x 195 mm
Oma (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x ø): 475 x 270 mm
In the Pink (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x ø): 425 x 235 mm
Portrait of Celina (2012) pate de verre glass, size: 415 x 312 x 275 mm
State of Grace (2012)
pate de verre glass, size: 405 x 320 x 277 mm
Likely Lads (Red) (2013) pate de verre glass, size: 490 x 245 x 140 mm
Lads (Blue) (2013)
verre glass, size: 430 x 200 x 143 mm
Likely Lads (Yellow) (2013) pate de verre glass, size: 450 x 200 x 140 mm
Paranymph (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x ø): 460 x 190 mm
de verre glass, size (v x ø): 450 x 275 mm
Social Butterfly (2013)
de verre glass, size (v x ø): 103 x 147 mm
With her latest exhibition A Singular Occasion, Sue Hawker continues to push the boundaries of the pâte de verre technique. Hawker speaks of this suite of works as ‘portraits’ based on actual people (1). She uses form and palette to delineate individual characters and the interactions between them.
Hawker uses the visual traditions of a wedding to explore dialogues about the role of family and of the dichotomy between male and female. Large, floral vase forms in traditionally ‘feminine’ hues are cast as the female players in this ‘frozen’ theatre. The Bride evokes (through its very title) thoughts of tulle and figured satin and Hawker plays on this with her use of massed blossom shapes in translucent lemon to suggest the sweep of a veil and the train of a gown. The drama of the form sets it apart from all other works while the repetition of floral patterning and soft hue clearly links it to the other flower-bedecked ‘females’.
The new columnar forms are assigned masculine roles and an element of phallocentrism can be read in their strongly defined shapes. The glittering black and upright stance of the cylinders are reminiscent of sober suits and the curved tops of the Likely Lads suggest an animated camaraderie as they lean in to one another. The pops of primary colour Hawker has used in the three works link them further, at the same time differentiating them from the groom figure, He Does. Each of Hawker’s works plays its part in this stylised ritual, their individual characters speaking to one another to create a unified whole.
The works in A Singular Occasion reveal the breadth of Sue Hawker’s ability to imagine a myriad of possibilities to be explored and her technical excellence in a demanding medium enables her to turn these into realities.
1. Artist’s statement, 2013
SUE HAWKER
b.1948,livesKerikeri
Connexions Group(2009/10)
"Glassisamesmerisingmediumwithitsrefractive,reflectiveandtransparentqualities.Iharness thesequalitieswhendesigningandcreatingmyforms.Infact,Icreateartwithlightitself".(1)
SueHawkercreatesuniqueglasssculptureandhasemployedcastglass,etchingandpâte deverretechniquesinherpracticetodate.“Pâtedeverreisanexactingtechniquerequiring meticulousworkandisoftenusedtocreatefragilepieces.Sue’spiece,however,represents quiteadeparturefromtraditionalpâtedeverrecreations.”(2)
Herworksareoftencomposedofindividualflowersorvinesandaredeliveredwitha celebratory,colourist’sflourish.Visualcontradictionsabound–thesuggestivefragilityofthe pâtedeverrestyle(itsfragmentary,sand-grainquality)hasbeenretainedbutthisisanillusion, fortheseworkshaveconsiderablestructuralstrength.Theresultisworksofastonishing complexity,qualityandremarkablepresence.
Hawker’s2013series, A Singular Occasion isadelicateseriesofportraitsofguestsata weddingcelebrationandtheartistemploysflower,vines,pungatrunkandbutterflyformsto depictavarietyofcharactersincluding The Bride, He Does, Oma, Social Butterfly, Paranymph, Prayer Reader and The Likely Lads
In2011HawkerreceivedtheJuror’sChoiceawardfortheNewGlassReview32attheCorning MuseumofGlassinNewYorkandin2010shewontheprestigiousRanamokGlassAwardswith herpâtedeverrework Too Much Is Never Enough. Shehasbeenafinalistinanumberof otherawardsovertheyearsincludingtheMollyMorpethCanadayAwardsin2010,2009,2008 &2007,theBombaySapphireNZCollection,2007,finalistoftheWallaceArtAwardsin2010 andarecipientofanHonourableMentionattheMazdaArtGlassAwards,2007.
1. Artist Statement, 2010
2. Northtec, “Kerikeri Artist Wins Ranamok Glass Prize", The Big Idea/ Te Aria Nui, 2010
SUE HAWKER
EDUCATION
b.1948,livesKerikeri
Selected papers, including glass sculpture, from the Bachelor of Applied Arts degree at NorthTec, Kerikeri
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013 A Singular Occasion, milford galleries queenstown
2011 Florescentia, milford galleries queenstown
2008 I am….Pakeha, Milford Galleries Dunedin
2006 Woman, Pioneer Tavern, Kerikeri
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013 Focus, Glass Artists Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Off the Wall, Waiheke Community Gallery, Waiheke Island
2012 30/30, Glass Artists Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Reboot, milford galleries queenstown
2011 Traverse, Milford Galleries Dunedin
Collect 2011, Saatchi Gallery, London (with Glass Artists’ Gallery), England
Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown
Encore, Glass Artists’ Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2010 The Earl Street Journal, milford galleries queenstown
Bloom, milford galleries queenstown
Objec-tive, Waiheke Community Gallery
Ranamok Contemporary Glass, Touring Australia
Crush, Lane Gallery, Auckland
2009 Glass 09, milford galleries queenstown
Two, Gravel Gallery, Kerikeri
Te Iti Kahurangi, Waiheke Community Art Gallery
Ranamok Contemporary Glass, Touring Australia
Glass, Whakatane District Museum, Whakatane
New Zealand Showcase, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong
2008-2010 Glass Invitational NZ, touring exhibition; Canterbury Museum, Christchurch; Milford Galleries
Dunedin; Lopdell House, Auckland
2008 Far North Glass Showcase”, Te Papa Store, Wellington
Glass, Whakatane District Museum, Whakatane
Artworks 2008, Hilton Hotel, Auckland
Northern Light, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland
Open Slather, Ausglass, Canberra, Australia
2007 Luminous Objects, Tamarillo Gallery, Wellington
Matariki, Whangarei Old Library Gallery, Whangarei
Matariki, Copthorne Hotel, Waitangi
Traces of Light, Tamarillo Gallery, Wellington
The Green Exhibition, Nikau Gallery, Maharangi
2006 18 Degrees, Geoff Wilson Gallery, Whangarei
Luminous, Hilton Hotel, Auckland
Illumination, Tamarillo Gallery, Wellington
A Touch of Glass, Mairangi Bay Arts Centre, Auckland
2005 Cast and Pressed, Indigo Gallery, Kerikeri
AWARDS
2012 Finalist, Ranamok Contemporary Glass Prize Australia
2011 Finalist, Ranamok Contemporary Glass Prize Australia
Jurors’ Choice, New Glass Review 32, Corning Museum of Glass, New York, USA
2010 Winner, Ranamok Glass Prize, Australia
milford galleries queenstown
2009
2008
2007
Finalist, Wallace Art Awards, Auckland
Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, Whakatane
Finalist, Ranamok Glass Prize, Australia
Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, Whakatane
Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, Whakatane
Finalist, Bombay Sapphire NZ Collection
Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, Whakatane
Honourable Mention, Mazda Art Glass Awards
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012 Liz Caughey, “Too Much is Never Enough: Radical Steps in Reinventing Pâte de verre”, Craft Arts International, no. 86 (2012), pp 51-54.
2011 ‘Ranamok Glass’, Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Australia, 2011 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAnfaB4B2Ec>
2010 ‘Too Much Is Never Enough’, News On ABC, ABC News, 2010, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeLUlnRFzcA&feature=related>
2008 Benson, Nigel, ‘Moulding Identity’, Otago Daily Times, October 23, 2008
2008 Carrick, Chanelle, ‘Art Seen’, Otago Daily Times, October 30, 2008
Oma(2013)
