Gordon Boyd was born and raised in Northern Manitoba, growing up inspired by the colours of the landscape around him, he began painting and drawing at a young age. After being introduced to glass in 2015, moved to Ontario to study the craft, enticed by the beauty, as well as the difficulty inherent in the medium. While completing his Bachelors of Craft and Design at Sheridan College, Gordon worked in a variety of studios learning how to care for and build the equipment, using his free time to continue his exploration of glass.
“My blown glass work is heavily inspired by the bright vibrant colours of the abstract expressionist movement of the 1940’s. The ideals about shape, texture, and colour explored in that period lend themselves well to glass, and channeling them through the process of engraving allows for the fabrication of visually striking glass objects. Layering coloured glass and carving through those layers to create a unique design opens up a whole new realm to glasswork, in which texture, shape and colour all work together to create an experience for the viewer, capturing an emotion within the piece. In this way, the work becomes more than what it was before through the loss of part of itself, much like we do, which is an idea I find very compelling, and that I believe helps capture some of the more distinct expressive elements of glass as an art medium.”