Watch a Canberra glass artist’s future unfold

Posted on 29 April, 2019

Lisa Cahill was sitting in Heathrow Airport, flying high after installing her ‘rising sun’ glass sculpture at the Sir John Monash Centre on the Western Front, when the email arrived in her inbox.

It was from Tiffany & Co asking about a future commission.

The result, created in Canberra over a five-month period last year, is now installed in the new flagship Tiffany & Co store in Sydney’s CBD.

The hundreds of kiln-formed glass panels of cascading shades of robin’s egg blue – the colour synonymous with Tiffany boxes – makes a striking statement and showcases the dynamic quality of glass art.

Lisa wasn’t always drawn to glass. She was comfortable with a palette and a paintbrush. Glass was for windows and crystal decanters until she walked past the glass department at the Australian National University’s School of Art.

Lisa Cahill. Image supplied.

“I thought I would study jewellery making until it dawned on me that glass could be used as an artistic material,” she says.

“There are so many ways to use glass. It’s sculptural. It can be flat. It can be painted. It has so many possibilities and you can push it in so many different directions.”

After graduating from Monash University in 2000, Lisa shared a “rustic” studio on the corner of Bridge Road and Church Street in Richmond. There were artists and actors. Bands played and music videos were made. “It was such a great space, and no one could tell us off about the noise because they didn’t know how to get into the warehouse,” she laughs.

Later, she worked as the studio manager in the Sydney College of the Arts’ glass department.

“It’s hard to build momentum at the early stages of your career as an artist. I had successes here and there, but everything was about trying to get my work out there and get exposure,” she says.

Tiffany and Co’s Sydney flagship store. Image supplied.

But that momentum grew, and she set up a group studio with fellow painters, jewellers and architects in Surry Hills. A stint in the French countryside followed, before Lisa was called back to Canberra to be closer to family. Today, Lisa’s studio in Pialligo sits among “apple orchards”.

“It’s incredible really, I’ve now spent more time in Canberra than anywhere else,” she says adding that this is a blessing. “The dream lifestyle I was looking for in France turned out to be here. There are so many interesting people in Canberra and the community really wants to support local artists. It’s a nice place to be.”

She’s delivered three “big” commissions in America which helped build her profile, but being an artist is “full of highs and lows”.

“These past two years I’ve been floating on cloud nine, but it took me nearly 20 years to get there.”

Her work with Tiffany & Co is the second with the iconic brand, following a piece for Melbourne’s Collins Street store in 2011.

“It’s a nostalgic company. People know the Tiffany colour and everyone’s seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It reminds me of New York and Audrey Hepburn.”

The glass components of this luminous work – all 430 individual pieces – were made at the Canberra Glassworks, while other parts, including the backing boards, were made in Lisa’s studio. They were transported to Sydney and wowed the social set who turned up for the grand opening, including Kendall Jenner, Jessica Mauboy and Samantha Harris.

Kendall Jenner. Image supplied.

“Because they’re all folded in different ways to evoke crumpled paper, I used about 100 different moulds to get folds on each piece. I wanted them to have this feeling of movement. It took me about two weeks to install it in my studio, and there was a lot of stepping back to see if the combination was working,” Lisa explains.

“The way to see a true artist is to see them put the paintbrush down. To step back and say ‘it’s finished now’ is a tell-tale sign of a true artist. At a certain point, it just works – but you don’t know how long it will take.”

The opening of the Tiffany and Co Sydney flagship store. Image supplied.

Where to next for Canberra’s acclaimed glass artist?

“I’m establishing a new studio in Fyshwick and I’m really excited about the new space. I’m looking forward to having a space for projects with other people and a hub for other artists – somewhere the Canberra arts community can come to have exciting conversations and make exciting things.”

And Lisa, Canberra can’t wait to see how your next project unfolds.