Re:New Wallace #1 Collection

Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Sir Richard Wallace, this is the first collaboration between Lisburn’s R –Space Gallery and the Wallace Collection in London. The Collection is housed in 25 galleries and comprises French 18th Century painting, furniture and porcelain and a world class armoury. And it’s the armoury in particular that has inspired artist Alison Lowry’s week long residency at the collection.

R-Space co-director Anthea McWilliams says:

I am delighted that glass artist Alison Lowry has been selected for this, the first residency programme at the Wallace Collection. We are really excited about the new body of work she will create in response to the collection, all of which will exhibited at R –Space in April. I have a long relationship with the Curators at Hertford House, since I completed my Masters in Cultural Management in 2001. The focus of my research was on the cultural and historical legacy of Richard Wallace in Lisburn, MP for the area, celebrated philanthropist and art collector; possibly one of the best art history stories for Northern Ireland to be
proud of! To that end we plan to repeat the residency on an annual basis, funding permitting.

Lowry, though an artist primarily working in glass, is also interested in textiles, especially clothing. For her clothing is photographic, bearing the imprint of the people who have worn it. Not just the physical imprint of their bodies, but indicators of the culture about them, of their choices and the choices made for them; dictated by fashion and societal and financial structures. As the artist puts it: “Fabric preserves the essence of its maker; traces of its wearer become entwined with the warp and the weft, allowing physical objects to become containers for memory.”

Glass too throws up a myriad of possibilities for the artist, in both thought and practice. For her “(A) Dress” show she produced an installation piece consisting of 9 pate de Verre Christening robes, glass birth certificates and a monologue of children’s names. For “A New Skin” the artist worked with Una Burke to marry her leather work to slumped and screen printed glass, sand carving, kintsugi and light. There is an astounding wealth of invention in her work, a restlessness in her approach. She is forever investigating new techniques and trialling fresh ideas.

Glass is the central part of her work. As she says:

Glass offers endless sculptural possibilities and is full of contradictions – a mirror of life itself.

About the artist:

Alison Lowry is a glass artist living and working from her studio, ‘Schoolhouse Glass’ in Saintfield .

In 2009 she graduated from the University of Ulster with a first class Honors degree in Art and Design. Since then she has won numerous awards including first place in the category, ‘Glass Art’ at the Royal Dublin Show in 2015 and 2009, the Silver medal at the Royal Ulster Arts Club’s Annual Exhibition in 2010, the Warm Glass Prize in 2010 and 2011 and more recently the Bronze Award at Bullseye Glass’ ‘Emerge’ exhibition. Alison exhibits both locally and internationally and her work is held in several public collections; with the National Gallery of Ireland recently accquiring a large pate de verre vessel for the ‘Contemporary Craft Collection’ and the  Arts Council of Northern Ireland recently made a forth purchase for their collection.

Artist Website