Geoffrey Bowton
My work is referred to as Pate de Verre, a French term meaning … “Paste of Glass” … I am mixing glass frit together with water and a sticky binding agent…..it helps hold the materials together while painting the powders, forming and packing the frit inside of a refractory mold…..the head seen here was wrapped with an Emergency Trauma Dressing in the original modeling stages…..next, the object transitions through a series of mold making procedures…..and lastly, fires inside of an electric kiln at temperatures just above 1400 degrees.
Grounded in a military and army veteran perspective, Bowton’s studio practice is primarily focused on war, post-traumatic stress, and mental wellness. His work navigates through scattered memories, images, even social conversations, while in search of understanding more about those lived histories. He is transforming old dusty army gear into evocative visual stories, by juxtaposing war with the fragility of glass. Bowton’s work bridges conversations through multimedia platforms, galleries, museums, and public events, inviting the audience to look upon the front lines into the realities of military deployment and its human impact.
In the coming months of 2023, Bowton will be taking part as artist in residence at the Museum of Glass, also, this fall at the Pilchuck Glass School for the Emerging Artist in Residence program. Bowton is presenting work for this year’s Not Grandma’s Glass 2023 competition (via Zoom, Sat June 3rd), also, at the 2023 GAS conference in Detroit, for the Saxe Emerging Artist Award. Bowton will have work on Exhibit during this time at the 51st Annual Glass International Award Exhibition, hosted by Habatat Detroit Fine Art, and, the GAS Detroit members exhibition, Connections 2023, glass from every angle.
