Alison Lowry
Graduated from the University of Ulster with a First-Class Honours degree in Art and Design, Northern Ireland, 2009. In 2015, she opened the Schoolhouse Glass studio in Saintfield, Northern Ireland, offering a wide range of glass courses.
She has been awarded multiple prizes, including: First Prize in the Glass Society of Ireland’s Award, 2009; First Place in Glass category, RDS Craft Competition, Dublin, Ireland, 2009, 2015. She has been granted financial support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland several times. She has also received several residencies, including the Corning Museum of Glass residency, Corning, NY, the USA, 2014.
She has participated in 9 solo exhibitions in Ireland, Denmark, Norway, and the UK, including: A place for everything/Everything in its place, Glasmuseet Ebeltoft (the Ebeltoft Glass Museum), Ebeltoft, Denmark, 2015; (A)Dressing Our Hidden Truths, Collins Barracks, the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, 2019. She has also had two two-person exhibitions.
She has participated in over 60 group exhibitions in Ireland, Belgium, China, Denmark, Italy, Norway, the UK, and the USA, including: Stanislav Libenský Award, Prague Castle, Prague, the Czech Republic, 2011; Elements, Shengling Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2012; the Irish Sculpture Awards, Mill Cove Gallery, Cork, Ireland, 2013; Body Talk, Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, 2014; Body Talk, GlazenHuis, Lommel, Belgium, 2014; Four Corners of Craft, London Design Festival, London, the UK, 2015; Emerge/Evolve, the Pittsburgh Glass Centre, Pittsburgh, PA, the USA, 2016; European Glass Context 2016 – Curated, Bornholm, Denmark, 2016; Gifted Glass, the National Glass Centre, Sunderland, the UK, 2017; Vessel, the Contemporary Glass Society exhibition, Vessel Gallery, London, 2017; Collect Open, the Saatchi Gallery, London, 2018.
Her works are included in several national and international collections, including: the Arts Council of Northern Ireland; the Contemporary Applied Arts Collection, the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin; Glasmuseet Ebeltoft.
She is interested in textiles, especially clothing. In her opinion, the fabric preserves the essence of its maker; traces of the wearer become entwined with the warp and weft, allowing physical objects to become containers for memory. In her glass art, she uses many techniques, such as pâte de verre, box casting, or the lost wax technique.
