Abstract

This study frames and records creative and technical processes behinda body of original glass artworksinspired by ethnic contexts.Foregrounded by my practice as a glass artistand post-colonial experiences as a Filipino-American, the content of the work isrooted in expressions of hybrid ethnicity.Encounters with foreign cultures stimulate the creative process inmywork, an approach that is inspired by contemporary art in its various appropriations of ethnographic methods. This is also an important and emerging discourse within the field of glass art.The graphic image in glass offers potentials for using unique qualities of the material to express this contentin artworks.This research aims to identify, develop and demonstrate how the graphic image in glass might be used to express aspects of ethnicity. The methodology consists of subject finding through personal experiences, interpretation of cultural contexts, and their visualisation through developing techniques to fabricate artworks in glass.Three case studies addressspecific cultural sitesas the source of inspiration for glass artworks. A field studyin the Baltic StatesobservedSoviet-eraarchitecture and interpreted its social impact.A study of ethnographic artefacts in Sunderland Museum revealed local connections to historical and contemporary Northeast England.The developmentof alayered plan explores one way of making acommissionedcultural map of Liverpool.My contributionto knowledge is the interpretationof a multiplicity of perspectivesin ethnic contexts, a working method utilising graphic images, layered and encapsulated in unique glass sculptures thatconveycomplexnarratives. These are created through anovel combination ofscreenprinting, waterjet cutting,kilnforming and glass grindingtechniques.As a model of practice for meaningful making, this researchadds toconceptual discourse and technical innovation in the field of glass art