Su Bishop is a glass artist and jewellery maker who developed her craft while living in Exmouth in the remote north west of Australia. Self-taught, Su developed her own style and methods of working, giving her work vitality, originality and freshness. Su’s glass art is uniquely classical and contemporary.
Su’s work is characterised by an individual flair, classic lines, and uncompromising quality. She uses an array of coloured opaque and transparent glasses, silvered glasses, glasses with metallic lustres, glasses of extraordinary clarity, and various reactive glasses to wonderful effect. She applies shards, murrini, stringers and metal foil to add complexity and texture. Su’s glass plays with light, colour and form.
Su’s work was heavily influenced by the colours and forms of the world famous and quite remarkable Ningaloo Reef and of the North West Cape, where the Australian desert meets the Indian Ocean. The marine blues, sage greens and desert reds feature in many of her pieces.
Prior to moving to Exmouth, Su worked in the fashion and textile industry as a designer/maker for some of Adelaide’s most upmarket boutiques. Her designs were timeless classics, made to the highest standard, with her trademark style and flair. When Su began working with glass, she brought the same attention for detail, classic lines and modern flair to her pieces.
Su is now living close to the coast in the Clarence Valley of northern NSW. She continues to explore flame worked glass to make gorgeous wearable jewellery and quirky sculptures. Her technique of blowing free form hollow beads over the flame allows light to bend and reflect off the natural variations in the glass, giving added vibrancy and liveliness. Her use of bold rich colours, asymmetry, repetition and texture makes her work individual, recognisable and collectable.
Her work is sought after in Australia and internationally. In 2016, Kirra Gallery took her work to the Chicago SOFA exhibition, where several pieces were acquired by USA collectors.
Su enjoys the peace and tranquility of life in the Clarence Valley. She and her husband live on a one acre block – not so much a property as a large garden. Her focus is now on original pieces that she likes to make and wear, and on experimenting with sculptural pieces combining materials and textures. She makes her work available to a limited number of galleries.
Exhibitions and Awards
- 2017-18 Clarence River Women in Art Exhibition, Yamba Museum, Yamba, NSW
- 2017-18 Dancing with the Flame – National Art Glass Gallery, Wagga Wagga, NSW
- 2017 Flame On – Kirra Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
- 2017 Clarence River Arts Festival, 1st Prize Jewellery, 1st Prize Craft, Peoples Choice award
- 2016 SOFA (Sculptural Objects and Functional Art), Chicago, Ill., USA
- 2016 Flame On – Kirra Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
- 2015 Flame On – Kirra Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
- 2012 A Jewellery A’Fair – Old Bakery on Eight St Gallery, Perth, WA
- 2010 A Touch of Glass – Old Bakery on Eight St Gallery, Perth, WA
- 2009 Ausglass Vicki Torr Prize (runner up)
- 2008 Silk, Satin and More – Benedict House, Queanbeyan, NSW
Publications
- Flow Magazine – ‘Women in Glass’, Winter 2018
- Soda Lime Times – October 2017
- Soda Lime Times – September 2017
- Soda Lime Times – August 2017
- Soda Lime Times – July 2017
- Flow Magazine – ‘Women in Glass’, Winter 2017
- Soda Lime Times – December 2016
- Soda Lime Times – October 2016
- Soda Lime Times – September 2016
- Beads Etc, May 2008 – feature article and front cover photograph
Galleries
- Veronica George Gallery, Melbourne, NSW
- Red Hill Gallery, Red Hill, Qld
- Coldstream Gallery, Ulmarra, NSW
- Wagga Gallery Shop, Wagga Wagga, NSW
- Ferry Park Gallery, Maclean, NSW
- Art Aspects, Lismore, NSW
Su Bishop Glass Art 