Mayo glass artist wins €10,000 Golden Fleece Award

MAYO glass artist Laura Quinn has been announced a winner of a Golden Fleece Award.

The awards was set up to help artists and craftspeople at a pivotal point in their career. Bequest by the late Lillias Mitchell, the awards have funded Irish artists for 21 years at pivotal points in their career.

Laura, originally from Foxford, applied for funding for specialist glass making equipment which will allow her to set up her own studio.

Her work blends traditional glass making techniques such as glass blowing and lampworking with digital technologies like water jet cutting and 3D printing to create contemporary glass pieces which encourage the audience to question ‘is glass really too fragile'? Her forms have highly tactile and flexible components, pushing how we engage with glass.

After completing her BA in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 2015, Laura has gone on to work in the world renowned Corning Museum of Glass in New York and in Olustvere Glass Studio in Estonia. She completed her MA from Plymouth College of Art in 2019.

She now lives in Surrey, where she continues to develop her practice and educate the next generation of glass makers as the Glass Technical Tutor at the University for the Creative Arts.

Her work has been seen in the Ireland Glass Biennale in Dublin Castle, in the Design and Craft Gallery’s sculpture trail in Kilkenny, and in Somerset House in London as part of the British Crafts Council’s highly prestigious Collect craft and design fair.

Most recently one of the artist’s pieces, Tacit Breath, was acquired by Ulster Museum for their public collection.

Multi media installation artist Michelle Malone and photographer and filmmaker Locky Morris also received a Golden Fleece Award to fund upcoming projects. Each prize winner this year received €10,000.

This year marks 21 years of the Golden Fleece Award, and the milestone is being celebrated with a very special exhibition of work by Golden Fleece Award artists - past and present - at Solstice Arts Centre in Navan, Co. Meath. This hugely eclectic and diverse exhibition presents work from past recipients of the Golden Fleece Award, as well as this year’s winners. It provides a unique insight into art, craft, and design in Ireland over the past two decades, showcasing work by over 40 creative practitioners working in film, painting, jewellery, sculpture, fashion, glass, furniture, ceramics, basket-making, photography, textiles, sound, and more. You can visit the exhibition until June 4.

See more of Laura’s work here: https://www.lauraquinndesign.com/new-galler.