POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'Ice Bowl' by Ann Robinson

Object No. 92/157

Ann Robinson, a graduate from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University, joined blown glass artists John Croucher and Garry Nash to set up Sunbeam Glass Works in 1980. While working as a glassblower for the next nine years, she keenly experimented in her spare time with lost wax glass casting. Robinson had learned the ancient technique at Elam in the mid 1960s while studying bronze sculpture made in a similar process also known as cire perdue. When in 1989 she decided to take a year off from glass blowing to concentrate on glass casting, her attraction to casting, a process which she found much more personal, proved so complete that she was never to return to glass blowing. A move from Auckland to live in Karakare in the west coast forest paralleled this change and the spectacular environment of the Pacific region began to influence her designs - objects grew in size acquiring bolder shapes, more rhythmic patterns and stronger colours. When three years later the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney acquired Robinson's magnificent 'Ice bowl', we could choose from a range of limited edition pieces from several series: in addition to two 'Ice bowl' pieces, there were 'Water bowl', 'Pacific bowl' and square 'Nikau' vases, both plain and patterned. Examples of 'Peace bowls', 'Small Square Section Tubes' or 'Large Square Section Vessels' were not in stock but if we were prepared to wait a little, we could view and order Robinson's latest works, the monumental (40-50 kilo pieces) Nikau vessels that were just being made for the next year's World Expo in Seville, Spain. Most works were cast using 24% or 45% colourless lead crystal glass sourced from Europe. While costly and of varying quality, the imported crystal cullet was a breakthrough in Robinson's long search for a formulation more suitable for casting (not devitrifying in the kiln) than the Sunbeam's lime soda blowing glass that she had used exclusively until 1990. It was the local Gaffer Glass however, that was to solve all problems with the material and its supply. In 1992, after a year of experiments and working closely with Robinson, Gaffer's John Croucher and John Leggott developed a glass that could withstand the demands of investment plaster casting and also confidently absorb a range of colours much wider than the blues and greens which dominated Robinson's earlier output. This bowl however, was still made with imported German crystal cullet which Robinson coloured with blue powder dye. Robinson made her first 'Ice bowl' in 1984 (after perfecting it for about a year) and the Museum's bowl was number 30 in an edition which still continues to be made in pre-coloured Gaffer glass. While Robinson's other works are mostly made in editions between 20 (larger works) and 40, she still continues to make 1 or 2 'Ice bowls' a year; so far she has made 83 examples and as she says "they just get better". In 2002 she thus explained the significance of this particular design: "The 'Ice bowl' actually plays a very special role in my work - rather like a weather vane. Because it is now a very predictable piece, I use it to test changes I am always trying in the process such as mould materials, firing schedules, glasses, and colourants and annealing. It's a piece that has changed immensely with these technical changes, and each time seems to be a new piece with its own idiosyncrasies and character" (quoted in: P.Simpson, 'An act of love - Ann Robinson's pacific Rim at Te Papa'). Like the more recent designs, for example the limited edition 'Agathis' vases , Robinson's 'Ice bowls' illustrate how she can imbue wax blanks cast from the same master mould with distinctive personalities by using different colours and hand-finishing (or even adding individual patterns) prior to the final lost wax casting. The way light and air bubbles get trapped in the glass completes each vase's 'DNA', making each piece different and unique. She explains her approach: "…design could mature with each casting, the idea is not frozen at its first expression...I need this freedom to revisit designs. It suits my sort of intuitive and evolving creative process" (correspondence with artist, 2006). While Robinson's art is constantly evolving, some things have never changed since she cast her first 'Ice bowl' in 1984: her desire to release her chosen medium's 'beauty and mystery', her very personal response to nature and her respect for the casting process*, a formidable force behind her artistic journey. Recently Robinson has increasingly been drawn to purely sculptural forms. Whether creating vessels or sculptures, today she can work with confidence brought about by reliable material and moulds, her control of the annealing process (perfected in 1998) and superior carving and polishing skills borrowed form the traditional New Zealand craft of jade carving. For further information about Ann Robinson refer to www.annrobinson.co.nz Eva Czernis-Ryl November 2006 *Robinson describes her lost wax technique: "Each piece is the product of a double moulding system. First a wax blank is formed by pouring molten wax into a plaster base mould. This wax 'blank' is then modified, added to, refined and sculpted, then invested in a second mould made of refractory materials that can withstand a long period of time in the kiln at high temperatures. After the wax has been burned out, the cavity is filled with molten glass - 24-45% lead crystal. When full, the mould is cooled and annealed, very carefully, to room temperature, before being broken out of the investment and finished".