International Glass
by Colleen BryanF
ive years after instructors have taught at The Studio of the
Corning Museum of Glass, they are welcome to apply for a
scholarship to underwrite a two-week artist in residence collabora-
tion with another artist. The purpose of the Instructor Collaborative
Residency at The Studio program is to lure artists outside their
respective comfort zones to explore, in tandem, work they might
not normally have a chance to undertake.
Helen Millard, who is recognized as being among the finest
British engravers of cameo glass, taught at The Studio in 2010 and- She approached Allister Malcolm to join her as a collaborator
in applying for the scholarship. Malcolm is a fellow Stourbridge-area
artist who blows glass in an abstract, contemporary style.
Finding a Collaborator
Millard and Malcolm met at the Broadfield House Glass Mu-
seum, where he has been the resident glass artist for several years.
Malcolm rents one wing of the museum and its equipment for per-
sonal hot glass production. It is not economical to keep a furnace
burning during the long hours Millard spends engraving, so she
uses the museum’s studio to create her blanks, then engraves them
in her gallery in Weymouth.
In looking for a partner in collaboration, both artists agree that
respect and affinity for their fellow artist, their character, and the
body of work they produce is a necessary baseline. Each partner
must also be clear and explicit about what they bring to and hope to
gain from the collaboration. Malcolm notes, “Often people want to
give me a drawing and have me produce the idea they have in their
minds. That is fabrication rather than collaboration.”
Of the Millard-Malcolm collaboration, she says, “We both have
strong skills in blowing glass, but Allister makes very large pieces.
The scale of the work will be a growth point for me.” Malcolm’s
style is imaginative and sculptural, whereas Millard’s is illustrative
and figurative. He hopes there is a good partnership to be made
by producing large sculptural pieces that draw viewers in from a
distance and provide marvelous detail as they get closer, even to
within a few inches of the object.
Each artist brings to the table a great deal of knowledge acquired
over decades regarding the technical aspects of working with glass.
Millard says, “I know about how colors work together and how
they change each other. Beyond knowledge, however, instinct
takes over.”
Both agree that everything they undertake at Corning will be dif-
ferent from that which either has attempted before. “This residency
feels like a very selfish couple of weeks,” Malcolm observes. “We
can please ourselves rather than working to commission. That is
very liberating.”Expanding Glass Art through Collaboration
Helen Millard and Allister Malcolm at The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
Helen Millard and Allister Malcolm, In Flight, 9" tall, the first
padded cameo test piece by the artists. Photo by Lara Jane Thorpe.
16 • Glass Art TM • May/June 2016 http://www.GlassArtMagazine.com