Dowson started applying the modelling techniques she had acquired from her studies in ceramics to the shaping of glass while studying for her MA at the Royal College of Art in 2018. The resulting works are in museums in Portland, Oregon and Taiwan and have been included in London’s 2019 Future Heritage exhibition and Collect 2020.

She begins by designing moulds, then fills the negative space with glass billets and ‘frit’ (crushed glass) and heats it to 860 degrees in the kiln. The glass captures air as it melts, which is dragged down and the swirling traces of its journey remain as it cools slowly over eight to 10 days. The unique play of translucency and mist, and dark and light colour results from the technical preparation of the moulds and materials combined with the natural behaviours of molten glass. “The process is very controlled at the modelling stage. I step back at the application stage.” says Dowson.

Limited Contemporary Design 2021

”The centrepiece represents a continuous horizon, with a central lens that gives the illusion of the piece falling through the table. The translucency of the bowls allows them to transform with the light throughout the day, as nature does under open skies.

Dowson’s vessels are made to be used, but can equally function as an aide-memoire, commemorating a place and its changing aspects as the light shifts.”

Applying, in exchange, glass-polishing techniques to her ceramics, Dowson’s explorations bring a fresh perspective to her materials of choice, underscored by deeply reflective observations of landscape and nature; creating pieces that shake up our perceptions and understandings of how a material behaves, broadening its storytelling capabilities.