Heart of Glass

Publiched in The Waiakto Times, Health and Lifestyle Supplement, written by Gill Davis

Who would think that a process so messy, one that involves so many parts that can go wrong, could result in objects so pure, so beautiful.

These are Di Tocker’s cast-glass artworks, and they line the benches and window sills of her studio. Light pours through them, transforming their colour, creating shadows, breathing life into them.

They’re figurative works, in the main, evolving from the abstract forms to the stylised. Di works in themes, she says, but not ones heavy with meaning and message.

“I want people to take pieces home that they enjoy, A because it is glass, and because it speaks to them, and however that speaks to them that’s fine.

“I don’t like to give all the answers, I like to leave a little open to the viewer, suggest by the shapes I chose rather than put words into them. The abstract figures are very contemplative and calming, but some people might see them as introverted. You have to make your own connection.”

The small abstract figures are Di’s mainstream pieces, the ones she knows will sell and sell well. Each series is finite, usually restricted to 100 sold, at which stage Di moves on to develop a new line. And every piece, including the smaller ones, is a one-off, individually carved.

Di’s working on a new series, quite different to what she’s done before. She’s experimenting with abstract figures, yes, but this time she’s pared them back to their simplest form.

And they’re a little quirky, resemble those cut-out figures we all, as children, snipped from paper, and when complete, out fell a line of them.

The glass versions are joined at the hands and feet too, but in such a way as to place each figure at interesting angles. Their forms are narrow, with lots of small pieces that join together, which makes them vulnerable, fragile and difficult to work with during the construction process.

But once fired and the glass annealed (toughened) the pieces are strong. “Getting them through all the processes can be a challenge, it’s very difficult to steam out the wax, because there are lots of little arms and legs.”

Those challenges, however, are exciting. “That’s the absolute attraction. There are always different techniques to learn.”

Di works with lead crystal she imports from Australia. “I like its properties, it releases from the mould well, and I find I get clarity from the glass. I can source glass from New Zealand too, but I use Australian at the moment because it casts really well, pours really well, and I like the clarity I get from the glass.”

Casting glass is a precision-focused process and a time-consuming one. First, Di carves her piece from a block of modelling wax or cuts it from poured-wax sheets. Next she creates the moulding using plaster, silicon flour and fibreglass-matting mix and works it over the wax in layers.

How many layers of mould she applies is dependent on the size, thickness and weight of the glass it is to support, usually three to eight layers.

When the mould is set hard, the wax is steamed out, then the mould placed in the kiln, which is set initially at a low temperature so that the mould dries out fully, then the temperature is increased and the molten glass slowly drips into it from a crucible pot suspended above.

The process takes several days, because the slow cooling process is as important as the slow heating up – it ensures the glass is annealed correctly. When cooled to room temperature the mould is carefully broken away to reveal the glass art beneath, which is then washed, ground, polished and finished to achieve optimum transparency qualities and sheen.

Di has been working with glass for 19 years, and has now arrived at a place a “long way from where I started in leadlights.” She attended three nights of a leadlighting course, and “went from there teaching myself by trial and error. I knew glass was for me straight away, and when I got a little better at it I started doing commissions.”

At the same time she was working as a photolithographer in the print industry. She left New Zealand in 1991, and while working in England, still within the print industry, she took up a part-time course at West Cheshire College, came out with a certificate in art and design, took on leadlighting commissions.

By 1997 Di was living in Brisbane and determined to make a career for herself in the glass industry, so she wrote to every stained-glass firm in the Yellow Pages – a grant total of 52 letters. “And someone took me on, and they trained me up in leadlighting professionally.”

Here, she was given the opportunity to work with all aspects of the industry – from quoting to drawing the designs to fitting the finished product.

She worked in the same field when she married and moved to Melbourne, becoming that company’s chief designer. She also started tutoring hobby courses. “That was when I discovered my second love, teaching.”

At the same time Di studied for a Batchelor of Fine Arts at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University). She undertook the course to help her progress into architectural glass, but discovered glass casting instead and began working on three-dimensional projects.

When she and her husband returned to New Zealand Di took a five-year break, had two children before she met fellow glass artist Colleen Ryan-Priest. “We’re both mad and passionate about glass.”

This led to Di “dabbling” in Colleen’s studio on Thursday nights. Three months later she thought: “that’s it, do it, become a glass artist – and that’s what I’ve done.”

There’s a mindset, Di says, that’s determined her success. That was formed by an Artsbiz course she did last year through Arts Waikato, which helped her set up in business, set goals, develop strategic plans and learn how to promote herself.

“I consider myself in the business of being a glass artist. If I haven’t got a business head on I won’t survive. New Zealand is saturated with artists, which is great, but you have to work hard to stand out. Visual art in New Zealand is well catered for – there is some serious talent here, and it’s great to be amongst it – but eventually I see myself selling overseas, New Zealand is just not big enough.”

In the meantime, to help make ends meet, Di turns her hand to tutoring. The workshops means she doesn’t have to churn out those bread-and-butter pieces, the ones with which artists can quickly become bogged down and bored. The courses allow her to reserve her creative energies for her artworks.

Eventually she’d like to return to university, gain her masters degree. “It would give me more challenges. At the moment I have freedom to do what I want, there’s no tutor saying why did you do this, what’s that about? Now it’s about the business and establishing an exhibition base.”

Right now there are enough challenges for this determined woman balancing work and family. “That’s no mean feat with a two-year-old and a four-year-old.”

She puts in a “crazy amount of hours”, the time necessary to fulfil commissions, and to complete entries for glass competitions. Di’s outdoor glass sculpture work will feature in Re-fraction, an outdoor glass exhibition at Waitakaruru Arboretum and Sculpture Park October 3 – November 16.

Di’s new works will be shown at “Casting Concepts”, an exhibition with fellow cast-glass artists Colleen Ryan-Priest and John Taris at Artspost, September 25 – October 27. 2008 – GLASS The Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Awards, Whakatane District Museum & Gallery, Whakatane, NZ