2020 FUSE Glass Prize winners announced

JamFactory is thrilled to announce that the winner of the 2020 FUSE Glass Prize is internationally renowned New South Wales-based glass artist Cobi Cockburn.

This biennial non-acquisitive prize for Australian and New Zealand glass artists is Australasia’s richest prize for glass. It provides a platform for artists to push themselves and their work to new limits and focuses public attention on the importance of glass as a medium for contemporary artistic expression.

The works of 12 established and six emerging artists were selected as finalists by the 2020 judging panel. 2020 Judges are Jessica Loughlin (Glass Artist and 2018 FUSE Glass Prize Winner), Eva Czernis-Ryl (Curator, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney), Robert Cook (Curator of 20th Century Art, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth), Justine Olsen (Curator of Decorative Art and Design at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington) and Brian Parkes (Chief Executive Officer, JamFactory, Adelaide).

The non-acquisitive $20 000 cash prize was awarded to Cobi Cockburn for her piece Murmuration (Light), 2019. Cobi has worked intensely with glass over the past 20 years. She is a graduate of Sydney College of the Arts and completed honours in the Glass Workshop at the Australian National University. She has previously been a winner of the Tom Malone Glass Prize and the Ranamok Glass Prize, along with significant prizes in Germany and the United States. Her work is held in many private and public collections around the world. Judge Jessica Loughlin remarked: “Cobi Cockburn’s entry is so quiet, beautiful and contemplative. It resonates with you the longer you view it. The level of detail in the fused glass cane work and her attention to detail in the proportions and finishing is exquisite and demonstrates her excellence in the craft of glass.”

The David Henshall Emerging Artist Prize, providing $2500 cash and a professional development residency at JamFactory, was awarded to Canberra-based artist Madisyn Zabel for her entry Illuminate III, 2020. Madisyn has a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Glass) (Hons) (2015) from the Australian National University School of Art & Design, Canberra. She has participated in residencies at Berlin Glas e.V., Canberra Glassworks and the Glass Studio at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, USA. Madisyn was awarded Warm Glass UK’s Glass Prize (Bullseye Artists) in 2016 and the Jutta Cuny-Franz Foundation’s Talent Award from the Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf in 2017. Her work has been shown internationally – including the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou; Berlin Glas e.V and the Corning Museum of Glass, New York. Judge Brian Parkes said of Madisyn’s work: “There is a wonderful confidence in submitting this collection of small jewel-like pieces. The level of refinement is superb, removing all distraction from the playful interaction of light, shadow, colour and geometry that draws you in to its intimate space.”

The FUSE Glass Prize is proudly presented by JamFactory and supported by generous donors; Jim and Helen Carreker, Susan Armitage, the David & Dulcie Henshall Foundation, Diana Laidlaw AM, Sonia Laidlaw, David McKee AO and Pam McKee and Trina Ross

The exhibition of finalists’ works is showing at the Australian Design Centre, Sydney from 9 October – 18 November 2020.

The closing date for entries for the 2022 FUSE Glass Prize will be in March 2022.