Amanda Simmons

I enjoy investigating how things go together and come apart again. I started on this path as an engineer working with machines; diagnosing and fixing faults. This led me to re-train as a biomedical scientist and adapt my skills with machines to people; I learnt that they can't always be fixed. 

From the very first moment working with glass I knew I had found my medium. I can communicate my ideas most easily through glass; it has technical, chemical and physical challenges and comes to life when mixed with light.  I like to work on themes of structure; how things go together, whether on a monumental or macroscopic scale….in our lives, in nature, architecture and the human body. This is physically achieved by many layers of glass being fired, to build up depth of pattern and colour, creating bubbles and movement. 

I have found a balance in my working practice, from large architectural glass commissions to functional work in Galleries. This keeps my work fresh as new challenges in large scale work helps inspire more intimate pieces.   I work exclusively with Bullseye Glass from Portland, USA, mainly because of its superior colour range and tested compatibility.   There tends to be several stages in producing my work – I like to build work up from cast elements, producing shapes and designs that are not possible from one firing. These elements would then be coldworked to shape and placed in moulds for the first full firing. If successful, this casting would be further coldworked using the grinder, sandblaster and engraving tools.  To give shape in the slumping firing, I use ceramic moulds, hand-built refractory moulds or fibre blanket / board.