Amanda Simmons in her studio in Dumfries & Galloway | Photography © Lydia Smith
Amanda Simmons
Glass Artist
Amanda Simmons captures the “hag” spirit through her exploration of the dark, defiant energy of Ted Hughes’ poem, Crow Hears Fate Knock at the Door. She developed the Crow Portals in response to a complete book of poems by Ted Hughes which contained this work.
This particular poem concerns Crow investigating the universe, taking things apart, trying to understand how it all goes together. Crow is consumed by the unravelling, and ends the poem with a defiant prophecy to convince themselves they are not going mad from the intricacy and overwhelm; “I WILL MEASURE IT ALL AND OWN IT ALL, AND I WILL BE INSIDE IT, AS INSIDE MY OWN LAUGHTER….”
By layering textures and black glass powders, Simmons captures the sense of unravelling and defiance in the poem. She creates a visual representation of struggle, knowledge, and the intense will to understand. She depicts the poem darkly, building texture by layering patterns of dark matter and feathers. Her own experience of the poem, built into her work, is that of beautiful, strong words that allow you to project into space.
Biography
Amanda Simmons began working with glass in 2002. She trained at Westminster College and Central St Martins in London before re-locating to Dumfries and Galloway in 2005. Simmons’ main technique is working with powders and sheet glass, creating 3D vessel forms using gravity. Simmons has pursued this method for the past 19 years and still finds new ways to explore the properties of mass, heat, time and gravity to create works. She makes vessel forms and wall-work with intense colour and patterns, utilising opaque glass powders which react to light.
Recent exhibitions include the British Glass Biennale, Stourbridge (2024); Planet Earth: An Ode to Our Wonderful World, London Glassblowing, London (2024); We are Crow, solo show at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh (2024); and This is Becoming a Pattern, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh (2023). Her work is held in public collections at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Perth and Ernsting-Stiftung Glass Museum, Germany. Recently she has taught at The Corning Museum of Glass, New York, Pittsburgh Glass Center and online with Bullseye Glass and Glass School UK.