Ben Edols & Kathy Elliot
Benjamin Edols has been blowing glass since 1987. He initially studied at the Sydney College of the Arts, and then went on to complete a post-graduate degree at the Canberra School of Art in 1992. Kathy Elliott received her BA from the Canberra School of Art in 1992.
Benjamin and Kathy have been working in partnership since their first joint exhibition in San Francisco in 1993. At that time they were on a two year journey, traveling and working in different public and private glass studios across America.
Their collaborative works involve a two-stage process of hot and cold glass techniques. After Benjamin has blown the vessels, Kathy cuts the glass on a glass-cutting lathe, using stone and diamond wheels to create an organic surface of lines and planes. Both artists see their collaborative work as being more than the sum of two ideas.
Kathy explains,
“We work with glass for many reasons. For Ben it is a strong attraction to the process of working in the Venetian style of glassblowing. I am inspired by what is possible in terms of carving and decorating the forms and working with the light to generate a breathtaking effect. For us, glass is a medium for colour and light as well as an opportunity to explore design and we try to use these uplifting elements in ways that are original.”