Phil Vickery is an International award winning British glass artist who is based in the North East of England. As an artist Phil finds glass one of the greatest challenges. One has to understand not only about art theory and contemporary contexts, but also the nature of this fluid material. He finds glass making to be one of the most beautiful and rewarding skills to achieve and also one of the most versatile of the crafts, but Phil is more interested in being an artist than a craftsman. The way the light travels through glass, the fragility, the possible forms and colours, the way it can be made to seem harmful, strong, light, heavy, or tactile, all makes this magical medium the biggest and most important substance and sustenance in his life.
The power of the mind and the way thoughts could be considered human energy are of great interest to Phil and a lot of his work is an exploration or representation of this idea. The way a mind has a habit of hiding things from itself and others around it. Or to some extent, the way it can be totally open. Thoughts can flow from the subconscious the way water can flow in a river, so in many instances the pieces have a flowing quality.
“The work involves concepts around the natural power behind thought, human nature, and how the subconscious is woven into this equation and relationship. The mind often becomes, and acts in a segmented way where thought can appear segmented too. Each segment acts as a building block of thought, but when the sculpture is seen as a whole gives a holistic view of the mind and energy.
Within my sculptures, the colours and forms represent various emotional states of the mind and the subconscious. From the minute to the monumental these sculptures reflect the inner workings of the conscious, subconscious, and the flowing energy that can be considered thought. If information is power, then why can’t thought be considered pure energy? I strive to visualize this idea with my own form of symbolism and representation in particular my ‘Thoughts’ and ‘Dreams’ sculptures are driven by this starting point.
I have perfected a technique where an internal membrane of glass is twisted along the length of the piece in a fluid manner. The technique creates an effect in the structure that is reminiscent of a double helix; the very building block of life itself. From this observation I developed my Helix sculptures to represent nature, life, energy, and movement; emulating this idea in form and content. Sometimes the work is just a driven sculptural form using this idea to make an abstract.
Working with the fluidity of the glass in a molten state to manipulate it into mold, and to work with natural gravitational force to create my signature spiral.”