Karin Wallend

My work combines glass, printmaking and photographic techniques, to create works that describe concepts of loss, brokenness, fragility, death and new life
The materials and processes used within the work are key to these concerns – in particular, the properties and nature of glass in its fragility and brokenness, and its ability to be completely regenerated in the kiln and furnace. My use of recycled glass within much of my work is a physical expression of rebirth as well as being environmentally friendly.

My present work in glass encompasses sculptural pieces, ‘2½D’ work (layered and slumped wall pieces) and sheet glass work.

I kiln-cast glass discarded glass, to create unique and beautiful works in which the colours of the broken glass flow and meld into multiple layers, making something new and unrepeatable each time. These pieces are riots of colour with the beginnings of a story buried in them, allowing the viewer to find a story of their own.
Smashed bottles are also resurrected into new works - broken pieces are bolted together and collaged, conceptually piecing the broken together into new and exciting forms.

Through photo-etching, photo-sandblasting and screen-printing I create works where the image changes visually between a negative and positive reading depending on whether the background is relatively lighter or darker than the piece. So, in a window the image constantly changes with the weather and light conditions. This gives a sense of something fleeting and lost, or concretely displayed in figures completely sandblasted away. With these techniques, images can be blurred, layered, obscured or only present as fragments, symbolising the fragmentation or loss of memory and life.

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