Colin Heaney: Glass Art Goddesses

colin heaney glass art goddesses> </td></tr><tr><td height=

Colin Heaney, internationally acclaimed for his distinctive art glass, explores the theme of the divine feminine in our goddess collection. Goddess Gift was pleased to be offered the privilege of sharing his exquisite goddess sculptures with our readers.

Heaney's work is held by public collections in Australia, Denmark, Spain (where it was exhibited at the World Expo in Seville, in 1992), and in the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. His art glass is coveted by private collectors throughout the world.

~ Pioneer, innovator, teacher and mentor

According to author Debbie Kruger, Colin Heaney became a recognized as a pioneering leader in the field of glass art by a curious path. After completing high school in Southern California, he visited Byron Bay to surf and decided to remain. To support himself and his passion for surfing, he worked making surfboards and discovered a skill in sculpting. Soon he was well known for his elaborate, inventive creations of wood furniture and candle sculptures.

Apprentice/Journeyman. Intrigued with word of the growing Studio glass movement in the US (ex. Dale Chihuly, Pilchuck Glass School; Rhode Island School of Design) and found a glassblower willing to come to Australia to provide him with an apprenticeship, teaching him glassblowing and helping him equip and set up his studio.

A true journeyman, his studies have taken him to the museums and galleries of Europe, the United States, Asia and India. Their influence is easily seen in his work which is held in both private and public collections throughout the world.

In an interview with ABC for their Learning English Program, Heaney alludes to his curious path to the top of his field. With little in the way of formal education, he had to "make do" with becoming an experimenter, a self-teacher, an innovator.

Like other artists who are part of the birth of a fledgling field, his talent and inventiveness would soon be recognized, leading him to become the teacher that he had never had.

Innovator, Mentor, Teacher. Colin's development of vitrolith, the inclusion of mineral particles in the design of handblown glass, soon led to his collaboration with various universities and museums interested in this innovative new field. His involvement with academic programs has been extensive. Serving tirelessly as visiting faculty, lecturer, workshop leader, Heaney is also credited as a mentor to numerous students who joined him in his studio for their experiential learning.

Some examples:

~ Glass, Art and Science. University of Lisbon, Institute of Technology, Master of Fine Arts Program, Multidisciplinary research and development program., 1993.
~ Melting Pot Glass Studio, Training and Development Program. Mentoring and hands-on training, tertiary level, hot glass design and production, 2002.
~Visiting Artists Program, ANU, Glass Art Workshop, School of Art, Canberra.
~ University of Technology, Sydney 1994, 1999. Collaborative research. Fusion '99.

Colin Heaney explores powerful themes, especially that of primal nature and its pull on humans and their cultures. Symbolism fills his work.

His goddess collection incorporates the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Complex coloring techniques, pioneered by the artist, give the goddesses their deep, mysterious glow.

The goddesses are created by hand in Colin Heaney's studio in Byron Bay on the northeast coast of Australia and were inspired by the Goddess of Willendorf, great-bellied giver of life and great-breasted source of nourishment, who is also called the Venus of Willendorf.

Discovered in Austria by archeologists, she is both the earliest depiction (estimated at 30,000 - 25,000 BCE) of the human form and the first known religious image of the Mother Goddess in all her lush and fertile splendor.

	According to one scholar, the Goddess of Willendorf: "exhibits... a physical and sexual self that seems unrestrained, unfettered by cultural taboos and social conventions. She is an image of "natural" femaleness, of uninhibited female power, which "civilization," in the figure of the Classical Venus, later sought to curtail and bring under control."
In his shrines, the goddess nestles in a cave-like Yoni (sacred place, symbol of the feminine divine). To read more about this exciting artist and his work, check out this biography or visit the Colin Heaney glass art studio online.
Our collection of the exquisite glass art goddesses from the studio of Colin Heaney can be viewed and purchased online in the Goddess Gift Shop by clicking here.

Note for those wishing to read further about Colin Heaney's contribution to the Glass Art/ Studio Art movement.: See "Colin Heaney: Vitrolith Glass" (1999) by Dr. Noris Loannou, a scholar of international repute, for a detailed view of his unique methods.