Gerry King - Essay by Grace Cochrane

Towards the Finishing Line : works of the last decade Insights into the experiences, ideas and outcomes of Australian glass artist, Gerry King.

Wagga Wagga Art Gallery Home of the National Art Glass Collection 25th March – 19th June 2022

Foreword Australian glass artist, author, master-craftsperson, lecturer and mentor Gerry King has work located in major collections worldwide including Wagga Wagga Art Gallery’s National Art Glass Collection.

This exhibition entitled ‘Towards the Finishing Line’ includes thirty new works alongside pivotal formative works from the National Art Glass Collection. It celebrates King’s particular contribution and place in the Australian art glass landscape as an academic, a maker and curator. It will also provide an opportunity for audiences to scrutinize the artist’s creative longevity and concern for the human condition.

King has received international acclaim, working with the processes of blown, cast & kiln-formed glass.

His preoccupation with the impact of light and colour in his work through form and pattern has resulted in recognition both as an artist and designer.

Finishing Line is a highly charged phrase conjuring a variety of reactions from completion of a significant event, the conclusion of a certain way of life to an end of a task or process. This term and what it might represent preoccupies many practitioners; for a variety of reasons. The exhibition asks; what does it mean to finish or withdraw from an art practice?

Could it be that creativity is a vocation allowing one the luxury of never having to retire?

The demands on an artist are manifold. Artists have to master their field of practice and also; exhibit, contribute to public performances, lecture, mentor, design, write for publications and grants. Additionally, there are ever expanding digital and social media obligations and perhaps most importantly the challenge of not letting their art practice become mundane or repetitive. Because of these increasing demands upon the artist there are many questions to contemplate when considering or accepting that it may be time to conjure an alternative lifestyle as the finishing line might soon be in sight.

Art is as much about being seen as seeing. Is reaching the finish line, then, simply a way of announcing a longing to opt out of the race and to look for solitude or an alternative creative outlet?

What then, of the personal pursuit of a creative mind’s art practice? Does the desire to create just cease overnight, or will creativity be conducted in other ways? Can the impulse to create be turned off?

A creative mind, it might seem, cannot be shut down at will.’

Essay Can the creative mind stop seeing the world as it has or perhaps, does the artist merely stop sharing their vision with new and tangible creations? Perhaps living with an artist’s work and letting it animate your space and contemplating its meaning and the artist’s motivation is ultimately the only lasting fulfilment and realisation the artist needs. King’s creative palette is vast; hence his variety of technique and creative oeuvre will always be entrenched in the studio glass landscape nationally and internationally.

So, when is it the appropriate time for an artist to step away from their art practice? In reality there probably is not a reliable answer to this question. Knowing when to call it a day comes with experience, wisdom, hindsight and circumstance. In an ideal situation, an artist would recognize when their art practice and reason for making begins to wane. It might be easier to overlook these signs in favour of decades of a certain lifestyle, but acknowledging them could protect an artist’s legacy.

Everyone cannot go out at the top of their creative output, but maybe with self-awareness, some can choose a time that is ideal leaving them with a sense of completion, in turn protecting their legacy and affording them the time to reflect and channel their creative energy in alternative directions.

For King the finishing line is not yet in sight as he is still at the height of his creative output, but these questions are for him important for artists to contemplate and in many ways may begin to influence their art practice offering a new way to view the landscape that surrounds them.

This exhibition celebrates Gerry King’s almost five decades of contribution to and his place in the Australian art glass landscape.

Michael Scarrone Curator Wagga Wagga Art Gallery 2022

Gerry King’s exhibition, Towards the Finishing Line, is a welcome follow-on from his retrospective exhibition in 2009 associated with the National Art Glass Collection at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. Now more than 50 years into his career, and clearly remaining active in all aspects of his practice, King suggests that perhaps he is now reaching the time to consider when to stop, and is wondering if that is possible: ‘When will the world have enough of my works? Given that making anything, and glass in particular, uses the resources of the world, is there a point when an artist should resist the urge to continue making? Another version of these thoughts is to do with longevity.

How much longer can I keep making works? There must come a time when it is too difficult or perhaps impossible.’

But I doubt that is yet the case; instead, King’s questions appear to have provided a starting point for taking a fresh look at the world around him in the context of both environmental and cultural changes and the various themes and processes that have interested him over the years. This may well be a perspective we can all share.

Following his Australian qualifications from 1965 in art and education, and subsequent study in ceramics and printmaking, in the early 1970s King was awarded a scholarship to study furnace glass in a Master’s degree in the United States, followed by further study in furnace and flat glass in Canada.

After his return, he established his own studio in Adelaide in 1976, relocating to nearby Crafers in 1978, and completing a doctorate in creative arts in Wollongong in 1993. Throughout this time, he held a number of educational positions, including coordinating glass studies from 1987 at the University of South Australia and becoming Head of the School of Design there from 1993, before leaving in 1996 to focus on his own work. He was a founding member of the national organisation, Ausglass, established in 1978, and following the first national Ausglas Exhibition, With Care, at the Jam Factory in Adelaide in 1979, he convened a national Hot Glass Gathering at his Sheoak Studio at Crafers in 1980, becoming President of the organisation in 1981-83. Over all this time he has continued to lecture, speak at conferences, curate exhibitions and run workshops in many countries, particularly in Turkey and China.

He has written extensively about these experiences, including ‘oz glass, ausglas, Ausglass’, in Finn

Lynggard’s The Story of Studio Glass in 1998, the evolution of his own work in Australian Signatures, for the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery in 2013 and a summary of his considerations of landscapes, in Iconic Memories in 2017. He has exhibited consistently in Australia and other countries, is represented internationally in many collections and has been documented within the history of studio glass in a number of significant publications.

While casting and kilnforming continue to be the focus for most of his works, hot-glass blowing sometimes remains an element. He tends to work over several years on evolving forms, which at times have included figures, vessels, shields, blades and clothing. Finishing Line demonstrates a current preoccupation with rectangular table forms and vertical wall pieces where he has embedded elements of Bullseye’s compatible coloured glass within the clear glass front and rear of the final form, multi-firing each time to fuse the accumulating layers together. With both the glass blocks and the wall panels which can be considered sliced samples, ‘The audience then looks through the clear glass to what is within. While I have an idea of what I hope for, it is always an educated guess, so it is often a surprise, and fun, to see the final result.’

What inspires this work? A constant preoccupation is King’s response to elements of the landscape and environment with which he is so familiar, including farmed land, desert areas, shallow lakes and rivers, escarpments, ocean shorelines and the effects of drought. He wrote in 2020, as he was storing works some distance from his bushfire-endangered home, that the exhibition would include works with various approaches to the influence of considering landscape, saying: ‘The “landscape” works are really my quiet plea for people to not forget the majesty of the colour and form present in the land in these times of environmental destruction,’ and added, ‘I am also inspired by rural districts I often visit. Some are in the rain shadow of the Adelaide Hills and during summer the grass-covered slopes are a harsh dry brown but in winter they are radiant with a resplendent swaying green. The contrast is so stark that it barely seems possible. These valleys are a short distance from my home which is located on a high rainfall, tall tree-covered steep hill. This difference is startling, illustrating the change wrought upon landscape by availability of water.’ The notion of landscape in this exhibition also reflects a strong interest in water and shorelines.

About This Parched Land, he recalls: ‘In a small gorge near Wilpena Pound a circle is carved upon the cliff face. By whom, when, how? I don’t know, though the image remains with me. Perhaps a quiet message to the future. Might this timeless symbol infer that all is connected, that our actions of yesterday will impact

King’s finished works, however, are never just visual representations of what he sees; there is always an underlying relationship with his responses to and perceptions of society and the circumstances in which we live. He says ‘My landscape-influenced works are not depictions of specific views but rather a record of the emotional experience occasioned by recollections of colour and forms.’ Acknowledging that he sometimes holds ‘memory of visual experiences for decades, seeking an opportunity to integrate them into works’, past experiences have consistently contributed to his approach of making clear glass forms with content embedded within them. During a visit to Iceland, he was surprised to notice that icebergs contained rocks and soil, similarly trapping memories of long past events. And while delivering milk as a child, he recalls: ‘On particularly hot days we would visit the ice-works to replenish the supply. The blocks of ice appeared as though magic propelled them from the factory chute, large, glistening and painfully cold to touch. Entrapped in the centre were masses of bubbles, a virtual landscape of white dots.’

The works in Towards the Finishing Line represent an accumulation of skilled approaches and processes, integrated with memories, observations, ideas and imagination, largely drawn from two main themes – his responses to the environments of both land and water. King’s insightful comments about the origins of some of the many works displayed, can elaborate on or contribute to our own perceptions of his work.

Of In Winter he says: ‘The Mediterranean climate of my home provides long dry yellow-brown summers and brief triumphant green winters. Winter and summer are as a different as day is to night. Each declares itself as the dominant master of the visual experience of landscape as it provides a theatrical backdrop for the eucalyptus trees that stand as guardians of this most ancient of lands. At a distance the eucalypts are monochromatic but scrutiny reveals the spectrum of colour with which they are stained deep blood-red, orange and a myriad of other colours with the gum that flows from the trunk and provides the colloquial term, “gum tree”. Other colours, some subtle, some extravagant appear as painted musings, more decorative than might be expected on a tree trunk or leaf. This work depicts not only the colours and forms to be seen but also the insinuated inner life of plant development.’

And in Across the Hills: ‘I can remember days of colour. I can remember days of texture. Images populate my memory. Those that stay with me are often from, rather than of, landscape. It is not landscape as such that inspires me but its visual components, great expanses of a crop, intimate blotches of colour upon an almost white tree trunk, the pattern of the plough, the fissures in a cliff.

Landscape has been forever rejoiced in art but now as the climate changes, as it slips between our fingers natural beauty has a new significance. This work seeks to slow the trickle of memory.’

upon us tomorrow? My interest in landscape is one of savouring colour and form. Yet it is now impossible to encounter the environment without considering the change being wrought upon it. The dry lands become deserts; the waterholes now puddles circled by crazed earth. We are yet to learn.’

And of Two Lakes, he says: ‘In dry climates shallow lakes can adopt the colours of minerals, dissolved and suspended organic compounds and algae. When dry the salt crust can show in its colour the prevailing chemistry. Seen from above they sit as might colour field paintings in a gallery. When in the initial stages of being refilled by winter rains or at the last phase of summer evaporation they are at the most dramatic level of colour variation. Even a minimal quantity of water can enhance vegetation density creating a visual border, promising life, creating diversity. This work alludes to that near miracle of the biosphere.‘ He reminds us in his Lasseter’s series, that: ‘In the 1920s Lewis Harold Bell Lasseter (1880–1931) claimed that either in 1897 or 1911, he had discovered a rich gold deposit at the western edge of the MacDonnell Ranges. He stated that the age of 17 he rode his horse from Queensland to the West Australian gold fields, during which he stumbled across a huge gold reef near the border between the Northern Territory and Western Australia. By his own account Lasseter spent the next three decades

trying to raise sufficient interest to fund an expedition into the interior. He eventually guided a search but was dismissed from it and died alone in a cave. The legend of Lasseter’s Reef has been foundational to the identity of non-indigenous Australians as settlers of the harsh outback.’

And for Willunga, he explains: ‘Clouds float aloof, viewing the changes wrought upon the land; the uplift of mountain ranges, erosion, division into fields, the incision of roads, fences and property rights. Colour and texture tell the story. Now global warming hastens the message. Climate change has politicised nature in a way not previously imagined. As the globe warms, a glacier breaks into smaller and smaller icebergs exposing its acquisitions of landscape, witness to its journey. This work results from observation of colour and line as they delight the viewer’s eye. It is not a portrayal of a precise location but rather a commentary upon the elements of many views, in particular those of the Willunga Hills. Still we enjoy its sensuality. This work is both a celebration of the present and a beacon signalling the future.’

As well as so closely considering such embedded details, King is also aware of perceptions from a distance such as looking down from a height.

Of Above Clouds, he says: ‘The forms of clouds, parched and cracked mud, salt lakes and coral reefs protruding from the ocean at low tide have some similarities. The patterns are almost regular, the variations pleasurable. This work was inspired by the clouds and landscape formations observed while flying from Hong Kong to Beijing, a journey I tend to take several times a year. The ground below is almost

discernible yet the clouds so seemingly solid that they might be walked upon.’ He elaborates further: ‘Clouds pass over all the troubles and triviality of the land and people below … The clouds are majestic but it saddens me to not be able to see more of the landscape. Once when flying to Manila from Australia one of the cabin crew was a former student of mine from Adelaide. She took me into the cockpit to see the view of the islands and ocean from the large front windows. Absolutely magnificent!’

Many recent works such as Wetlands 1 and 2, Delta 1 and 2, Ponds, New Tide, Underground, Along the Beach, reflect his observations of water viewed from a height above, and of the various depths, from shallow to deep, of the water below, or even upwards from the water level itself. ‘My works with reference to water originate from an experience of seeing a thermal pool in Iceland. Almost circular and relatively small it seemed as a portal to the centre of the earth, a passage deeper than could be imagined if one only had the conviction to dive in. That is in stark contrast to the Shallow Lakes series that was influenced by those in Australia.’ Moreover, ‘When flying from or into Adelaide the plane most often crosses the coast adjacent to the airport. When fishing from my boat I often use the same beach and observe the planes above. When in the plane looking upon the few boats sprinkling gleams of white upon the sea I wish I was down there rather than engaged in some businessrelated travel. When in the boat I look up at the silver twinkling of the plane wishing that I was travelling to somewhere exotic. Such is the discontent of one never satisfied with the present, never content with the life that has been lived, never convinced that the future is assured.’

Reflecting on earlier forms and themes, but also in relation to the land, the exhibition includes Cai Lun’s Axe from the 2014 Toledo Blade series, where: ‘An axe can be a tool of peace or a tool of war. Once swung its incision can never be undone. Yet well intended actions can have dire consequences. The axe that clears the land for farming may in time be the cause of irreversible erosion. Cai Lun is credited with inventing paper. Paper is a thing of beauty though its held message can cause untold elation or agonising trauma. Like the axe, paper and that written upon it can be a benefit to society or an instrument of trepidation.’

Also exhibited are the Twin-necked bottles, freeblown in 2018 in response to an invitation from Ausglass for artists to work collaboratively for an exhibition for the 2019 CoLab conference held in Whanganui in association with the New Zealand Society of Artists in Glass. Made at the Canberra Glassworks in collaboration with glass blower Jacqueline Knight, these were linked to earlier separate works resulting from an experience in 1973 when, while driving through New Mexico, King ‘encountered the Pueblo Indian culture, saw ancient cliff-face houses and their unique ceramics … Upon return to Australia … I realised that some of the forms of Pueblo and Apache ceramics were appearing in my glass blowing … I continue to accept that forms can be “collected” by the subconscious and appear in the works many years afterwards. I have continued to experiment with the form from the 1970s until the present.’

So, Towards the Finishing Line is definitely not the finish! Instead it offers many starting points for consideration of how we observe and value our environment, both visually and emotionally, and Gerry King is to be congratulated on the many years he has contributed to these ideas and recorded them so imaginatively and skilfully through the works in this exhibition.

Grace Cochrane AM, is a curator, writer and historian, formerly a senior curator at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, and author of The Crafts Movement in Australia: a History, UNSW Press, 1992.

Quotes from correspondence with author, 2020-2021.

Gerry King QUALIFICATIONS

REPRESENTED

1993 Doctor of Creative Arts: University of Wollongong, Australia

National Gallery of Australia: Canberra

Notojima Glass Art Museum: Notojima, Japan

1976 Advanced Dip. Teaching, (Fine Art): Torrens C A E, Australia

National Art Glass Collection: Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, New South Wales

1974 Certificate Hot and Flat Glass: Georgian College, Canada

Queensland Art Gallery: Brisbane, Queensland

International Collection of Modern Glass Art: Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Denmark

1974 Master of Science, Education: Alfred University, USA

Art Gallery of Western Australia: Perth, Western Australia

1971 Certificate Printmaking: SA School of Art, Australia

National Gallery of Victoria: Melbourne, Victoria

1970 Certificate Ceramics: SA School of Art, Australia

Art Gallery of South Australia: Adelaide, South Australia

1966 Awarded Post Graduate Year: SA School of Art, Australia

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery: Launceston, Tasmania

1965 Diploma of Art Teaching: SA School of Art, Australia

State Craft Collection of Victoria: Melbourne, Victoria

AWARDS AND HONOURS 2011 Honorary Life Member: Ausglass, The Australian Assoc. of Glass Artists 2007 Export Grant: Austrade 2006 Grant: Department of the Arts, SA 2006 Export Grant: Austrade 1995 Cultural Exchange Grant: Australia/Korea Foundation 1988 Cultural Exchange Fellowship: Bank of Tokyo 1980 Grant: Department of the Arts, SA

Auckland Institute and Museum: Auckland, New Zealand Flint Institute of Arts: The Glass Glass Collection, Flint, Michigan, USA Wustum Museum of Fine Art: Racine, Wisconsin, USA Kaplan/Ostergaard Glass Center: Palm Springs Art Museum, USA Rockford Art Museum: Rockford, Illinois, USA

Banyule Collection: Victoria

Museo Municipal De Arte En Vidrio De Alcorcon: Madrid, Spain

Latrobe Valley Arts Centre: Victoria

Marinha Grande National Museum: Marinha Grande, Portugal

The Art Trust: Australia

The World of Glass: St Helens, Merseyside, England

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology: Melbourne, Victoria

Modern Art Project: South Africa

Flinders University: Adelaide, South Australia

Sir Elton John Glass Collection: Great Britain

University of South Australia: Adelaide, South Australia

Private Collections: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, USA, Singapore, U K, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Germany

Tsinghua University: Beijing, China Niijima Contemporary Glass Art Collection: Niijima, Japan

Private Commissions: Australia, USA, Singapore

Cover New Tide 2022 (Detail) 470 H x 585 W x 30 D mm

Page 6 Two Lakes 2017 340 H x 380 W x 35 D mm

Page 10 Ponds 2022 420 H x 330 W x 30 D mm

Page 4 Across the Hills 2020 250 H x 1270 W x 30 D mm

Page 7 Willunga 2019 390 H x 350 W x 50 D mm

Page 5 This Parched Land 2019 605 H x 545 W x 25 D mm

Page 9 Cai Lun’s Axe 2014 665 H x 470 W x 160 D mm

Page 12 Night Sky 2018 (In collaboration with Jacqueline Knight) 380 mm H x 180 mm Diameter

1975 Grant: Australia Council 1974 Phi Kappa Phi

Public Commissions: Australia

Artworks

This publication is supported by the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery.

Photography by Grant Hancock except Night Sky by Art Atelier.