AMY CUSHING

Glass artist Amy Cushing speaks to Dominique Corlett about colour alchemy, breaking with the norm during Covid, and hankering for the sun

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For 15 years, glass artist Amy Cushing has made large-scale artworks for the corporate sector, softening the glare of soaring atriums and huge empty corridors with her shimmering curtains of handmade colourful glass tiles, sometimes incorporating the company’s colours or logo. It is an arena in which Amy has been successful, with her work on display in many of London's big hotels and the headquarters of banks and law firms. And this might have remained her sole focus, had the world not changed in March 2020.

When Covid hit and the first lockdown came into force, the work dried up overnight. ‘Everybody started working from home, the offices were closed and those spaces were not invested in,’ says Amy. But rather than panicking, Amy had a rethink. ‘In some ways I was a victim of the success of the corporate work,’ she says. ‘Not that it was a chore – I was thankful to have it – but there were other things I wanted to do.’ So, with time on her hands, Amy began experimenting with smaller pieces, and with making work that was less about function and more about pure aesthetics. ‘I wanted to make things that were beautiful and sculptural,’ she says. ‘Things that people could have in their homes and enjoy every day.’ things bubbling away that I had wanted to explore for a long time.'