Lisa Cahill

Atelier 818

Glass sculptor

©Peter Nilsson

©Evan Papageorgio

©Brenton McGeachie

Fragile forms and folds

Lisa folds, paints and engraves her glass pieces
She celebrates ephemeral forms and landscapes in her sculptures
Her works are featured in hotels, boutiques and museums across the world

Lisa Cahill shapes fleeting moments into glass in her Canberra workshop, located on the industrial edge of Fyshwick. "I am inspired by natural beauty, sunsets illuminating mountains, rain freckling pavements and even the soft valleys of a crumpled page. I translate these influences into delicate glass sculptures, which I then engrave, paint or fold before and after fire transforms them in my kilns," explains Lisa. Her sculptural works grace the walls of Tiffany & Co. boutiques across Australia and China, the Nobu Hotel in Atlanta and a memorial in Somme in France, which honours Australian servicemen who lost their lives to war. "Each of my sculptures displays their fragility like armours," Lisa says.

Interview

©Canberra Glassworks

©Louis Grant

What makes working with glass unique?: The beauty of making glass is that it is not an easy process. It takes years to understand how glass moves and how to control it to get the effects desired. Its temperature is hard to grasp as it keeps changing, which makes it difficult to know exactly how a piece will turn out.
What is a signature of your work?: I have worked with folded glass for a long time to echo the look of a crumpled page – a reflection of human fragility. Many glass artists focus solely on sculpture, but I always come back to painting. I love how paint moves on glass, it feels completely different from painting on canvas.
Do you have surprising sources of inspiration?: I see landscapes in pavement cracks, rain making patterns on the ground and fissures on old, weathered tiles. I am inspired by mist and fog too – anything ephemeral grabs my attention.
What advice would you give younger glass artists?: You just have to start creating. You do not have a practice unless you make. Every time something comes out of the kiln, you learn – often more from mistakes than from getting things right.

Lisa Cahill is a master artisan: she began her career in 2000 and she started teaching in 2000