Ione Thorkelsson, Mundus adaptat, 2012, cast glass, lichen, root, and found metal, 23.5 x 19.5 x 34 cm

“I had begun my casting experiments using natural forms with no particular end in mind. I was pouring plaster directly over the organic object and then burning the object out of the mold in the kiln and I was accumulating an odd assortment of cast glass plant and animal parts. At one point, I tried attaching some of them to blown glass shapes…and with that everything changed. As soon as I added a pair of feet to a sphere, it got up and walked around the room. I was astounded. Suddenly, this abstract shape became a character; it had mysteriously acquired a personality, a sense of humour or a tragic past. I found myself becoming attached to these pieces, wanting to discover their history. It was as if while walking down a hall I passed a door that I had never noticed, slightly ajar. I gave the door a little nudge and it opened up and I wandered in. It turned out to be a vast chamber, a room I never even knew existed in the house of glass.”

Ione Thorkelsson (1947 — ) is one of Canada’s leading glass artists, and has delighted national and international audiences with solo shows at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, and the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum, and with exhibitions in Korea, Belgium, and Thailand. 

Ione first studied architecture at the University of Manitoba, then worked behind the scenes in theatre and ballet, before she discovered glass. That same year, in 1973, Ione opened her first studio where she began crafting vases, perfume bottles, and other blown glass vessels. In 1993, Thorkelsson began experimenting with various glass casting techniques and by 2005, Ione had abandoned blown glass entirely in favour of kiln-fired cast glass. 

The Douglas Family Art Centre at The Muse is pleased to present Mundus adaptat, which showcases nine exquisite cast glass sculptures by Ione Thorkelsson.

The exhibition is on from July 15th until September 17th, 2022.