Nick Doran Adams
Nick Doran Adams — 'Cartridge', 2025
"I've always had a fascination with video game graphics, specifically from the original
Nintendo Game Boy, and the 8-bit graphics that came with it. The image generation
methods employed by these devices resulted in their distinctive and recognisable
iconography. When creating murrine using sheet glass, the way the image is assembled is strikingly similar to these old devices. Another similarity is that in these video games the same tiles or sprites would be used repeatedly, just as creating a pattern using murrine.
When choosing the imagery for these works, I looked back at the original Pokémon games as the simplistic nature of the Poké ball would translate well to repetition and pattern. When deciding the form of these vessels, I looked at the games themselves. One referencing what the imagery depicts within the game, the other depicting the cartridge that these games were once housed in."
—
—
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: Hot formed glass vessel, surface worked
Dimensions: 20 x 16 x 6cm
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.