AFTER 10 years working from his Queanbeyan-based home studio, artist Matthew Curtis will temporarily move his practice to the Canberra Glassworks after receiving the inaugural Creative Fellowship for 2015.
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As part of the Fellowship, Mr Curtis will be provided with free access to the facility and equipment and a cash stipend of $20,000.
The 50-year-old said he was honoured to be the first recipient of the Fellowship and was looking forward to working with other artists and interacting with the public.
"I will continue with my practice under the Glassworks' roof and be making work but also encourage other artists, the general public and mentoring them in various activities," he said.
"I'm hoping to reach out to other emerging artists, perhaps those who are in their last year of uni, and draw them back into the Glassworks.
"One idea I had was to get them to make a number of vessels using a traditional technique of having overlays of colour on the surface of the glass and using a spinning wheel to cut different colours into it.
"I want them to visit and be able to send them home with something. They can do what they like with the glass, it's something where they can create their own work. Perhaps carve it or smash it and try fusing it all back."
Mr Cutis and his wife and fellow glass artist Harriet Schwarzrock have been working from their home studio for about a decade.
The Glassworks will provide the couple with an exciting and different environment to grow their practice.
"On the whole, the Glassworks is a mighty fine place to work. I think it would be hard to find something comparable, even overseas, to this beautiful facility," Mr Curtis said.
"It will be a little challenging working under the Glassworks but rewarding. Rather than being in our own environment, we'll be interacting with other people and hopefully it will help break me out of some of my bad habits I've picked up from working on my own.
"It's great for me after ten years to step out of my comfort zone, it's a great opportunity. It will be a good adventure, I'm sure."
The father of two has been a regular exhibitor at Chicago's Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art and Design Expo.
His work has been acquired locally and internationally by the likes of the De Young Museum, USA; The Ernsting Stifting Museum, Germany and the National Gallery of Australia.
Mr Curtis describes his style as "minimal", "structured" and "ordered". He is inspired by the biological and organic architecture of plants.
