About

Collin Walsh is a sculptural artist and glass maker based out of Ontario, Canada.

In his youth, Collin’s life was mired in the world of craft and design, even if it was without conscious realization. His father was an avid hobbyist woodworker and furniture maker. The smells of sawdust, cigarette smoke and varnish were commonplace in the family garage after working hours. In fact, much of his father’s furniture still adorns the family home today. This, coupled with his mother’s inclination towards sewing and dressmaking, and a bonafide tinkerer of a grandfather familiarized Collin with hand labour, and its rewards from an early age.

Through his adolescence, Collin would inherit his grandfather’s passion for tinkering; becoming interested and dabbling in computer hardware, metal working, drawing and painting. Perhaps most importantly, this would be when Collin first began to develop his fascination with blown glass. Perpetually interested in all things surreal, macabre and abstract, Collin’s search for anything “trippy” would ultimately lead him to the glass work of the pipe maker S.A.L.T. This would be the catalyst to a silicate romance passionate enough to last a lifetime.

A graduate of the Sheridan College Crafts & Design program, the focus of Collin’s work is in the medium of flameworked borosilicate glass. Enticed by the coloured borosilicate’s lustrous and highly reactive qualities, Collin identifies with the title glass blower and craftsman. This title and distinction are inherently important to Collin’s body of work, taking the form of a contemporary and sculptural twist on classic blown glass vessel and drinkware.

Through his work, Collin ultimately aims to balance his inclination towards traditional handcraft and glass work with his love of the bizarre. Bringing to life the stories and things that fascinated him in his youth, Collin’s objects bring a sense of narrative experience to their users.