Inspired by Mycology, Promoting Sanctuary
Catriona R MacKenzie has created two lines of glass; her Art Glass: Catriona R MacKenzie Glass, and FRITH Glassware. Both were created with the intention to connect you to glass through tactility and colour. They are about sanctuary – giving comfort through from, the functionality, and through the story behind each piece. Cat hopes that by breaking down the barriers between the glass, her work helps to encourage its owner to adopt this philosophy in their everyday lives, and that when someone takes a piece home it will give them a sense of comfort, an excuse to stop and sit with the work; to use it in their routine and to enjoy it’s presence in their everyday life.
Catriona’s work conveys a strong sense of design and a distinctive style, whilst maintaining a minimalist aesthetic. She is inspired by mycology, the sanctuary she finds walking in the woods of her native Scotland, and the textures of the natural materials around her.
Her jewellery has a similar theme using the microscopic world of myxomycetes as inspiration. Tactility is also very important to the jewellery Catriona creates using precious metal and lampworked glass elements. She uses the transparency of the glass as a contrast to the metal, and as little pops of colour.
Process
Catriona would describe herself as a maker first – a skilled Craftswoman. She enjoys the process of making, and has spent the last 20 years honing her skills. She studied her BA(Hons) at Edinburgh College Art, and spent some of her time on exchange at Alfred University, NY state in her 3rd Year. She then went on to complete a 2 year Post-Grad Diploma at the International Glass Centre, West Midlands, where she was awarded 5 Distinctions in Hot and Cold Glass techniques.
Since her education she has won Awards for her Glass and Jewellery, been part of the Crafts Council Hothouse 5 mentoring programme for rising talent, exhibited at COLLECT, and been published in various books and magazines. She now has a studio at Centrespace Studios at the centre of Bristol, where she creates her jewellery from, teaches lamporking and uses it as her base for her blown work.
