Over the last twenty years my creative road has been full of bumpy turns, tears and laughter. Coming originally from the Italian Alps, my appreciation for nature and sense of measured space moved me toward sculpture as a creative language. I have expressed myself through a variety of media: carved stone, stained and cast glass, fabric art, silk painting, and oils. Stone and glass with their common origin have become my key focus without restricting me to the three dimensional world. At the same time flat glass and other two dimensional media cannot give flight to all of my visions.

This can be seen strongly as I develop my product line of Sculptural Art Glass Lighting. It is often found echoing themes from nature. Content can become more literal and somewhat less mysterious as we see feathers, leaves, ice, butterflies and other winged creatures, cloudy skies, starry nights etc. Since an early age I have been exploring various media and their communicative relationships. Each of my works can be viewed as a “landmark” from my visual journal. Each creation maps a processing of emotions through simple, yet strong use of line, gestural movement, light and textures allows the heart to be revealed. Using mostly abstract sculptural language I explore themes that run the gamut from growth and transformation, through to whimsical celebration. This is often a risky adventure to healing.

There is something very profound about taking a heavy boulder and making it fly with life. Digging into the inner life of anything is fraught with danger. Texture, light and line are strong voices in my visual language. The luscious colours and sensitive veins in stone clearly capture a tender ferocity and primal passion very indicative of my style. As glass and stone mingle and marry we see how their similarities and differences beautifully enhance one another. Glass enters the scene to speak of things of the spirit that stone alone cannot. “Light is a threat to darkness: it rushes against lethargy with the violence of beauty.” Sculptural kaleidoscopes are a specialty which are nearly always sold out. They are immediately tactile and interactive. Kaleidoscopes initiate playful yet profoundly contemplative experiences on the theme of seeing chaos come to extravagant order using colour, light and high optic triune mirror systems. I find myself compelled to pursue interactive and spontaneous play within my own work but also within the sphere of other local creators. As an active believer in and developer of artistic community I totally enjoy the cross-pollinating of different skills with others.

One time when a particular stone would not open up for me to any design, a friend who is a dancer proposed an alternative approach. By prayerful movement, and dancing around the stone, meaningful lines began to emerge. (The rest was just hard work.)

In communicating visually, my aspirations are to touch viewers on a personal level. Wanting to encourage the processing of life and perhaps suggest a new view of familiar emotional journeys I seek to bring beauty and breathe hope. When not chiselling stone you’ll likely find me out in nature somewhere. My main studio is tucked into a forested edge of the Grand River, just out of earshot of my home and family.

Heidi Antonia Brannan can be reached athttp://www.etherworks.net/