During the month of October, Flowerfield Arts Centre will host the work of three mid-career artists whose common denominator is the material they have chosen to work with: glass.

The exhibition in glass and light features large-format fused and cast wall pieces by Sean Campbell; lampworked mixed-media pedestal pieces by Andrea Spencer; and Scott Benefield’s blown glass work using Italian cane techniques.

A series of texts describe the objectives of the collective, the techniques on view, relating the works to the contemporary studio glass movement.

Each of the artists employs a different method of working with glass, and each pursues a substantially different artistic agenda:

Andrea Spencer’s finely detailed hollow sculptures exploit the material properties of transparency and fragility characteristic to flameworking, whilst also addressing form, content and qualities found in the nature.

Sean Campbell’s work references wall mounted artwork, such as painting and printmaking, by fusing together multiple layers of coloured sheet glass into thick panels. Visual themes are explored through colour, shape and composition but with added dimensions of transparency and depth.

Scott Benefield’s intricately patterned blown vessels are closely tied to the forms of functional glass objects, and engage the history of the medium through their innovative application of traditional Italian glassblowing techniques.

This exhibition is supplemented by an educational display that presents the history of glass as an artistic medium, explains beginnings and significance of the global Studio Glass movement, and offers information about the particular glassmaking techniques that are on view in the exhibition spaces. There are also videos of the artists at work in their studios as they create some of the pieces included in the show.

Three x 3: Contemporary Studio Glass runs from 3-31October 2011 with a special opening and artists' presentations on 8 October 8 from 1-5pm. For more information, get in touch with Flowerfield on (028) 7083 1400.