GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet: What are you working on?
Denise Pepper: My art practice is professionally motivated, forming sculptures that intentionally redefine common objects from the mundane. Fundamentally a glass artist, I specialize in pâté de verre glass casting, but also enjoy creating art for public sculpture exhibitions. I'm very much a maker in my art practice and desire in my art glass practice to form a unique and highly crafted pate de verre glass casting process developing innovative skills and techniques. My art glass practice focuses on the replication and presentation of detail and intricacy found in traditional lace making. I've also explored this medium with its application in fashion principally associated to undergarments.
GLASS: What artwork have you seen recently that inspired you and got you thinking about your own work?
Denise: I'm constantly searching for new processes to utilize with glass. This pursuit of process is a deliberate challenge I set myself. It's important for me to experiment with construction and materials within the form and scale of the intended work. By nature I learn by trial and error, making decisions in the heat of the moment, letting adventure and sheer determination give shape to the outcomes of the evolving ideas. Current glass artists' work that evokes inspiration in me and pushes me to continue experimentation of process are notably Evelyn Dunstan and Masahiro Asaka’s work with kiln cast glass, and Karen LaMonte's work casting garments in glass.
GLASS: Where can your work be seen?
Denise: My work is represented by the Glass Artist’s Gallery in Sydney. I'm exhibiting new work in October this year at the ‘emerge Art Space’ Beaufort Street in Inglewood here in Perth. My 2012 Ranamok-winning piece Punto in aria (2012 )can be viewed online at the Ranamok website.
News of my upcoming exhibition can be found at "emerge Art Space."