Glassblower Chris Day is exhibiting in Harewood’s All Saints’ Church as part of a brand new Craft Spotlight series. The series provides a platform for emerging makers of diverse ethnicity, particularly in view of the significant under representation of diverse heritage among makers in the craft sector.

Our first artist, Chris Day, creates glass works that open conversations around Black history including the Transatlantic Slave Trade and brings Harewood’s own history into that dialogue through a new work he has made for the exhibition.

Chris Day is an emerging glass & mixed media artist and a recent graduate from Wolverhampton University, receiving a special commendation during the 2019 British Glass Biennale held in Stourbridge, UK. He is represented in many important private collections and public institutions;  the V&A, the National Museum of Scotland and The Chrysler Museum.

Creating highly personal works, Day’s intention is to discuss and investigate the treatment of black people in Britain and the United States of America. Much of his research has focussed on the history of the slave trade in the Eighteenth Century and the Civil Rights Movement.

In the artist’s own words;

“Like the glass I have pushed my approach in how I work with glass and ceramics in both traditional and experimental methods, to create contemporary artworks that represent my passion for this part of our history. As a black glassblower, I am one of few and on a quest to find and inspire more. My main purpose, however, is to engage the audience on issues that are hard to confront on many levels, using art to help overcome some of the traumas that haunt our collective past”

Read Chris Day’s blog post White Wash, commissioned by Harewood to mark UNESCO’s International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

Instagram:@christopherdayglass represented by @vessellondon

All Saints’ Church is cared for by The Churches Conservation Trust who have generously allowed it to be used as a venue for the duration of this exhibition free of charge.