Sculpture Casting in a glass of its own

Published in The Waikato Times, by Ben Stanley

For Hamilton artist Di Tocker, glass casting isn’t just a form of expression, its an “obsession”.

Ms Tocker is one of three artists whose exhibition Casting Concepts: New Works in Glass opens tonight in the Ida Carey Gallery at ArtsPost on Victoria St and is looking forward to seeing how Hamilton’s arts community responds.

“I’m extremely committed to my production and the challenge of working with glass. It’s an obsession really once you get going”, she said.

The exhibition will feature pieces from her current series of works, title Paper People.

She describes the pieces as “quirky and fun” and said that relationships between people were the greatest inspiration to her.

“I’ve always been fascinated by relationships between people, between individuals and in the community.”

She said “negative space” had always been a great interest of hers, and she always tried to include it in some way in her art.

Mrs Tocker has worked with glass for more than 19 years, and with cast glass since 2000.

Along with fellow exhibiting artists Ms Ryan-Priest and Mr Taris,she is a tutor at Hamilton’s Casey Glass Studio where she leads courses in glass casting.

Three other exhibitions opening at ArtsPost tonight feature works from Bev Truloff, Deb Hinde, JKarin Barr, Jo Pervan and Janene Sullivan.