Collin Walsh

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

I always wanted to be a mad scientist, though I never did end up getting around to doing that PhD.

Instead, as a lampworker and visual creative, I merge classical forms of blown glass vessels with my own particular flavour of pop-surreal, ‘B -Horror’ aesthetic in order to create grotesque caricatures of everyday objects. Objects that, despite their inherent unpleasantness, organic and palpably repulsive ornamentation, are ultimately incredibly rewarding to touch and use.

When we find ourselves confronted by the mystery & melancholy of de Chirico’s street corner, will we embrace the unfamiliar with open arms? Or shall we remain blissfully uninformed in the relative comforts of our ignorance? Personally, I think I’ll always find the former to be the more appealing option. Through my work with glass, I hope to force confrontation with deep seated aesthetic biases and explore my perennial fascination with the macabre, the surreal, and the beautifully grotesque.