Juniper Maffescioni
Juniper Maffescioni — 'At the End of the Day, It's Just a Really Nice Circle', 2025
These works serve as technical and visual explorations within new methodologies of hot and cold glassmaking, taking prior works kiln formed with Bullseye during my time at the ANU glass workshop as starting points for pattern generation and conceptual interest. The repetition of red, blue, and yellow wave patterns draw from the techniques and intentions of Op Art, an abstract visual art movement originating in the 1960’s that focused on creating optical illusions via the applications of geometric design and colour theory. The use of primary colours and waveforms in my pattern construction nods to my appreciation of light, as both a complex mathematical entity, as well as an expressive real-world energy that without, we cannot produce, let alone appreciate, any visual art forms.
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Juniper Maffescioni is an innovative glass artist and Honours graduate from the ANU SOA&D Glass Workshop in Canberra. Based in Melbourne, her work explores the interplay between vision, perception, colour, and light through a post-digital lens.
Juniper's journey into glass began as a teenager when her parents gifted her a workshop experience for her 18th birthday. The moment she first touched molten glass, she knew it was her true calling. The way glass transforms—from a molten, honey-like substance to a solid form—is what keeps her fascinated. She describes it as a symbiotic relationship; glass is both a material and a partner in creativity, evolving with every touch.
Her practice is a blend of traditional techniques and modern technology. During the pandemic, Juniper turned to digital tools to expand her conceptual work, self-teaching software to animate and render colour experiences. This resulted in a body of animated works that meld digital and physical realms, reflecting her unique approach to colour and perception.
In her current work, Juniper delves into ancient glass techniques and Swedish pattern-making methods. She is passionate about reviving lost forms and exploring the intricate bond between glass and air bubbles for new forms of expression. Her creations offer viewers a fresh perspective on colour, turning subjective experiences into tangible art.
Juniper's art invites you to see the world through her eyes — where colour, light, and glass converge to challenge and expand our understanding of perception.
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Glass Futures
September 18 – November 1
Glass Futures presents a collection of works produced during an intensive masterclass at r.a.g.e, led by renowned glass artist Giles Bettison and artist-educator Lienors Torre. This body of work showcases how participants engaged with the intricacies of pattern and form in glass, inspired by the centuries-old Venetian tradition of murrine. Working with Bullseye sheet glass rather than traditional furnace glass, participants developed a contemporary take on this technique under Bettison’s tutelage. Once vessels were formed in the hot shop, Torre introduced various coldworking processes, allowing for intricate surface refinement and the elevation of each work to a new level of clarity and expression.
At its heart, Glass Futures is a dialogue between tradition and innovation. Anchored in the lineage of Australian studio glass, this exhibition celebrates the transfer of material knowledge to a new generation of makers. The resulting works embody the rhythm of process — layered, fused, shaped and carved — revealing glass as a medium that is at once enigmatic and precise.
For participants at different stages in their careers, this masterclass was both a technical and artistic threshold: an invitation to refine skill whilst articulating an individual voice. Together, the works in Glass Futures testify to the vitality of independent glass education in Australia, offering a glimpse into the bold and evolving future of the medium.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, as well as generous support from Bullseye Glass, Craft Victoria, and r.a.g.e.
Artist List – Eva Alisic, Ruth Allen, Giles Bettison, Laura de Carteret, Nick Doran Adams, Cheryl Edwards, Juniper Maffescioni, Clare Millar, Elizabeth Parsons, Nicole Polentas, Michelle Stewart, Lienors Torre, Keely Varmalis
Read more about the exhibition here:
Material: Blown, cold worked glass
Dimensions: approx. 27cm in diameter
Please note when purchasing, exhibition works are to be collected when exhibition closes.
Shipping costs may be estimates. Please feel free to contact shop@craft.org.au who will be available to provide an Art Courier quote or shipping costs for larger items.