Biography
Diana Hobson
1943
Born in Stoke on Trent, England
1958
Trainee designer to Clarice Cliff (Ceramics).
1961
Intermediate & NDD Ceramics Diplomas Stoke on Trent College of Art.
1962
Ceramic Design, Diploma. North Staffs College of Technology, Staffs University.
1964 – ’70
Designer to Howard Pottery Limited.
1971
Began working with metal (London studio).
1972 – ’73
Enamellist to Wendy Ramshaw (Jeweller).
1973 – ’76
Royal College of Art, London (MA RCA, working with metals).
1975 – ’82
Participant in numerous exhibitions of silver and jewellery worldwide, including the Victoria and Albert museum and Goldsmiths Hall, London;Artisaani, Helsinki, Finland; Schmuck Museum,Pfortzheim, W. Germany; Osterreichisches Museum fur Angewandte Kunst und Gallerie am Graben, Vienna; Brisbane Civic Art Gallery and Museum, Australia.
1976 – ’77
British Council Scholarship. Attached to Atenaum School of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland.
1979
Crafts Council Workshop Award Grant, London.
1979 – ’87
Camberwell School of Art and Crafts – Lecturer in metalwork.
1980 – ’81
Practical research into the technique of Pate de Verre glass, supported by
grants from Crafts Council and Camberwell School of Art and Crafts.
1983
Began studio, working with Pate de Verre techniques.
1984
Crafts Council Bursary, for the development of work.
1985
Second Coburg glass prize – 3rd prize winner.
1988
Gulbenkian Foundation Vessel Workshop, Farnham, UK.
1989
Rakow Commission, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, USA.
1991 – ’93
External assessor – Craft Design BA, National College of Art and Design, Dublin.
1992
2nd prize, Cecil Collins Memorial Prize for life drawing, Central Saint Martins College, London.
1996 – ’98
External examiner, Middlesex University, School of Architecture, Design and PerformingArts, London.
1997
External examiner, M.A. Degree, National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland.
1998
Shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize, London.
2000
Artist in Residence, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh & Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland.
2003
Began working with video installation in collaboration with composer Susan Alexjander, California.
2008 – ’11
Macro photography/video project—Moths—Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA.
2012
Artist Residency, Baer Arts Center, Iceland.
2014
Bær Arts Center, Hofsos, Iceland – project, Fragile Memories.
2015 – 16
Nomination for the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship.
2017 – 18
Finalist in the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship.
2019 – 20 / 21 – 22
Nomination for the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship.
Collections
Goldsmiths Hall, London • Victoria and Albert Museum, London • Crafts Council of Great Britain • Contemporary Arts Society, Tate Gallery, London • North West Arts, Manchester • Cooper Hewitt Museum, USA • Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris • Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY • Kunstsammlungen Der Vest Coburg • Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany • Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan • LA County Museum • Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Castle, Ireland • American Museum of Glass, Wheaton Village, NJ. USA • The Montreal Museum of Fine the Arts, Canada • Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY • Museum of fine Arts, Boston • Toledo Museum of Art, USA, Dan Klein & Alan J. Poole (Private Collection) The National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, GB.
Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin. Mint Museum, North Carolina. • ArtUK – A website featuring UK artists in Museum collections in Britain.
ArtUK link: https://artuk.org/discover/artists/hobson-diana-b-1943
Exhibitions
1983
TWO PERSON EXHIBITION, Coleridge, London (first show of Pâte de Verre).
ICA GALLERY SHOWCASE, London. – ‘Young Blood’ at Barbican Centre, London.
PATE DE VERRE ACTUELLES at Gallerie d’Amon.
VERRE CONEMPORAIN EN EUROPE, Paskine de Gignoux, Strasbourg
1985
2ND COBURG PRIZE EXHIBITION. Prize winner.
A COLLECTION IN THE MAKING, Crafts Council Collection exhibition, London.
L’ART DU VERRE ET LES CREATEURS D’AUJOURD’HUI – Clara Scremini, Paris.
1986
VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM – one person show
1988
CLARA SCREMINI, Paris – three person show.
WORLD GLASS NOW ‘88, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan.
CONTEMPORARY BRITISH 1988- 89′ exhibition, British Council, Japan, Australia.
1989
RAKOW COMMISSION ‘Copper the Colour of Magic’ sculpture, Corning Museum, New York, USA.
1990
ONE PERSON SHOW of sculpture, Kurland Summers Gallery, Los Angeles.
1991
EUROPAICHES KUNST HANDWERK 1991. Landesgewerbeamt Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
1992
HELLANDER GALLERY, Palm Beach, USA. Opening exhibition.
1992
SUMMER SEEN, Sculpture at William Jackson Gallery, Cork Street, London.
1993
EYE OF THE HEART, Tribute exhibition to Cecil Collins, Central St. Martins College of Art, UK.
1995
INFLUENCE OF NATURE ON CRAFT AND DESIGN Crafts Council Gallery, London – April 1995.
1996
LANGUAGE OF LIGHT, solo show, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Castle, Ireland.
1996
VENEZIA APERTO VETRO, exhibition, Venice.
1997
VIA VENICE TO EBELTOFT, Glass Museum, Ebeltoft, Denmark.
1998
FOCUS: Contemporary Applied Art, London.
1998
JERWOOD PRIZE EXHIBITION, Crafts Council Gallery, London, Denmark, Slovakia, Germany.
1999
SKYLIGHT PROJECT for Canary Wharf, London.
1999
MARGO JACOBSEN GALLERY, Portland, Oregon. Past recipients of the RAKOW COMMISSION.
2000
ELEMENTAL TRACES, installations, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland.
2000
ELEMENTAL TRACES, Festival Exhibition, Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland.
2001
MATERIAL MATTERS The Hub Festival Centre& Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland.
2001
SOFA Chicago 2001 Art Fare- Delicate Balance Series ‘On the Edge’.
2002
9 X 9 ‘Diatom’ installation, Glass Art Gallery, Leather Market,London.
2003
DENSITY AND LIGHT, installation, Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Surrey, England.
2003
INTO BEING -THE RIVER, video installation – In collaboration with composer, Susan Alexjander. Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, California, USA
2005
PARTICLE THEORIES, Museum of American Glass, NJ USA
ZERO WAITING video installation in collaboration with composer Susan Alexjander and Sculpture from Language of Light series THE SALT GALLERY, Cornwall, England.
ZERO WAITING and sculpture DELICATE BALANCE series, Cogswell College, Sunnyvale, California.
2006
SCULPTURE IS, Pajaro Arts Council Gallery, Watsonville. CA. USA.
ZERO WAITING, installation with Susan Alexjander & Counterbalance, sculpture
MATERIAL MATTERS. GlASS, LA County Museum.
2007
ON/OFF- Art in the Digital Era, Cabrillo Gallery, Aptos, CA USA (Zero Waiting)
2008
ZERO WAITING, Video Revolutionaries, Getty Museum website, hacked by infinity lab.
ZERO WAITING screening, Norwegian Light Asociation Seminar, Oslo Bymuseum, presented by Susan Alexjander.
INTO BEING THE RIVER, screening, NLA Seminar, Oslo Bymuseum. Norway.
ZERO WAITING, screening, From Light to Sound. Microscopic music by Susan Alexjander, NLA Oslo Bymuseum, Norway.
2009
EN-TRANCE, Felix Kulpa Gallery, Santa Cruz, California, USA.
2010
CEILO-SKY part 2. Video, Sala de Exposiciones, Parc Garcia Sanabria, Tenerife.
2010
CEILO-SKY return, video, Porter Gallery, UCSC, Santa Cruz California.
2010
EN-TRANCE video installation, Galerie Califa, Horadovice, Czech Republic.
2011
50 YEARS OF GLASS FROM BRITAIN, European Museum of Modern Glass, Rödental, Germany.
2011
A PASSION FOR GLASS, Dan Klein & Alan J. Poole (Private Collection), The National Museums Scotland. Edinburgh. GB.
2011
PAPILLONS DE NUIT, art video, outdoor screening, Art Pad, San Francisco, CA, May 20 & 21.
2011
PAPILLONS DE NUIT. September First Friday, an art video, outdoor screening, Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA. USA.
2011
YELLOW MOTH, a video projection, in collaboration with Cormac Faulkner in his BEACON OF LIGHT REQUIEM to the phasing out of the incandescent light bulb, an installation/performance, Coventry, UK
2011
5X5 (print) An Invitational. Westmount Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA. USA
2011
TRANSDUCERE, fourteen Bay Area artists whose work explore hypnosis and trance, Root Division, San Francisco, CA, USA.
2012
ROCK SKINS – COMMUNICATING WITH THE LAND, studio exhibition, Baer Arts Center, Iceland.
2012
YOU ARE HERE, MOTH PORTRAITS, Cabrillo Gallery, Santa Cruz, USA.
2013
DAN KLEIN & ALAN POOLE COLLECTION, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK. On loan from the National Museums of Scotland.
2013
FRAGILE MEMORIES, THE REDWOODS. 50/50 Show, Sanchez Arts Center, Pacifica, CA, USA
2014
THOREAU CENTER, San Francisco, four artists, November 13 2014 – January 2015.
2015
NOTIONS OF ROMANCE, Group show, Vessel Gallery, Oakland, CA.
2015
INCENSE FOR THE VOID, a tribute to Stephen Lynch, Apricity Gallery, Tannery, Santa Cruz, CA.
2015
FRAGILE MEMORIES, A solo retrospective exhibition, Vessel Gallery, Oakland, CA.
2016
MOTHS at STANFORD ART SPACE, Stanford University, CA, USA. Nov 2016 – Jan 2017, with Hagit Cohen & Carol Newborg.
2017
FLIGHT< FLOCK AND HOLLOW. IKONS, Vessel Gallery, Oakland. February 3 – March 25.
2017
ENVIRONMENTAL INSTALLATIONS – Art in the Arboretum. UBIQUITOUS SEED installed in the Arboretum, UC Santa Cruz, May 20 – Nov. 17.
2017
ART FOR ROBBIE – Fundraising event. MOTH PORTRAIT at the Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA. June 17.
2018
INTO BEING — THE RIVER, 2003, projected video installation, Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art, Moraga, CA. June 9 – August 26.
2019
ALL WIRED UP, a micro-festival of new electro-acoustic music, featuring INTO BEING – THE RIVER. Susan Alexjander, Sound Designer, Diana Hobson, video, Portland Oregon. April 20th.
2019
ABSTRACT, featuring ZERO WAITING, video installation with composer, Susan Alexjander, Center For The Arts, Sebastopol, CA. USA.
2020
ARTUK, A website featuring work of UK artists in Museums in Britain in conjunction with the BBC
Ongoing projects
2021/22
NATURE Speaking Clearly, Grasses Weeds and Wild Surprises. A comprehensive collection of wild
plants from a California Redwood and Chaparral habitat, presented as portraits.
Publications
Breaking the Mould, Crafts Magazine (no.64 Sept/Oct 1983).
Glass Review no.5, 8, 9, 12, 18, 22 1984 – 2001, Corning museum, N.Y.
The Rough with the Smooth, Country Life, (August 1986): Rosemary Hill
Breaking Glass, County Homes and Interiors (November 1987): Kate Faulkener Christie’s Review of the Season, 1987
International Design Yearbook, 1987/8 and 1988/9 issues.
Diana Hobson, New Work Magazine, New York (Fall 1988): Dan Klein
Pate de Verre, American Crafts (Aug/Sept 1988).
Diana Hobson, Glasswork (1989.1) Japan
Glass Art Society, Journal 1989, America.
Glass Art Society, Technical Journal 1989, America.
Glass Magazine, New York – LA exhibition review in Spring 1991 Edition
Glass: A Contemporary Art, Dan Klein, Collins, 1989.
Contemporary Glass, Susanne Frantz, Abrahams, 1989
Prism of Fantasy, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan, 1990
Europäisches Kunst Handwerk, 1991
Sources of Inspiration, Crafts Magazine, Nov / Dec 91: Jeremy Theophilus
Arts Decoratifs 1982-1990, Fonds National D’Art Contep. Min. Culture
Deleg’n Aux Arts Plastique.
Art Now, Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 1992: review of sculpture at William Jackson Gallery.
Seven Steps, Art Aurea, January 1993, Wendy Ramshaw. Neues Glas,
Diana Hobson: Speaking Clearly, Art Aurea, Nov/Dec1996 Karen Chambers.
Language Of Light, artists publication of work, exhibited at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland 1996.
Some of the Best in Recent Glass, New glass review 18, 1997, Susanne K.Frantz.
Techniques of Kiln-formed glass, A & C Black, London, 1997 Keith Cummings
Jerwood Prize catalogue, Crafts Council, London 1998.
The Glass Calendar 1999, Foreign and Commonwealth office of GB.
Elemental Traces, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland., 2000
Women in Glass. Lucartha Kohler, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. USA 2003
Contemporary International GLASS – Jennifer Hawkins Opie. V& A publications 2004
Neues Glas und Studioglas, Clementine Schack von Wittenau, Coburg.
Schnell+ Steiner, 2005
Particle Theories– international pate de verre & other cast glass granuals
Susanne K. Frantz, 2005
Zero Waiting, Diana Hobson and Susan Alexjander. Video Installation,
Salt Gallery, Hayle, Cornwall. – Crafts, Nov/Dec. Jennifer Opie 2005.
Glass – Material Matters, Los Angeles County Museum 2006.
Fused Glass Art Technique, Richard La Londe. 2006.
Reflections, A Decade of Northlands Creative Glass, 2007.
Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration, Diana Hobson, Santa Cruz Weekly. March 2011.
Color Ignited, Glass 1962 – 2012, Toledo Museum of Art, 2012.
Notions of Romance, review, East Bay Express, January 2015.
A Passion for Glass, Dan Klein & Alan Poole collection, edited, Rose Watban, National Museums of Scotland 2015.
A Delicate Balance, Diana Hobson, article for Glass Network, UK, Dec. 2015/16
Into Being – The River Revisited, Artists book of poetry, prose and images. 2018.
Páte de Verre-The Material of Time, Max Stewart and Tone Orvik, Schiffer. 2021.
A selection of Glass art books 1983-1996 Video
Teaching and Workshops
1987 / 8 / 9 / 91
Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, USA. Workshop leader.
1988
Sars Poteries Atelier, France. Workshop leader.
Konsfakskolan, Stockholm, Sweden. Presenter & workshop leader.
1988
Canberra School of Art, Australia. WCC. Presenter.
Glass Symposium, Novy Bore, Czechoslovakia. Presenter
Gulbenkein Workshop, Farnham, UK.
1989
Sheridan College of Art, Toronto, Canada. Workshop leader.
GAS Conference, Toronto, Canada. Presenter.
1990
Konstfackskolan, Stockholm, Sweden. Pate de verre, workshop leader.
Taideteollinen Korkeokoulou, Helsinki, Finland University of Art and Industry.
Pate de verre workshop, leader.
West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham, UK. lecturer.
1991
Miasa Bunka Centre, Nagano, Japan. Workshop leader.
Adamant Music School, Vermont, USA. Artist residency.
1992
Cleveland Institute of Art, Ohio, USA. Pate de verre workshop leader.
1993 / 5 / 7
Royal College of Art, London: visiting lecturer.
University of Wolverhampton: visiting lecturer.
1996
Limerick College of Art and Design, Ireland, lecture.
1997
Northlands Creative Glass, Lybster, Scotland, inspirational workshop in the
landscape, Workshop leader.
1998
Danish glass conference, Lonstrup, Denmark. Presenter.
From Pate de verre to the Botanical Garden, California College of Art and Craft, Oakland, USA. Lecture.
1999
San Jose State University – ‘from Pate de verre to site specific sculpture. Lecture,
Rhode Island School of Design,’ from Pate de verre to site specific
sculpture & overview of British work’. Day teaching & lecture.
2000
Sculpture – Monterey Bay Women’s Caucus for Art. lecture,
2000
Let Nature Teach, workshop leader, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland.
2001
Personal Shrines, Teaching assistant. Mt. Madonna, California.
2002
Creative Drawing/Painting for Ruth Eisenhart-from the vision of Cecil Collins,
Mount Madonna, California. Workshop organiser.
2003
Art & Spirit workshop, Teaching assistant. University of Santa Cruz, CA. USA, extension division.
2004
Creative Process workshop (Earth,Air, Fire & Water)- The Elements UCOL Summer school, Wanganui, New Zealand. Workshop leader.
2004
Summer school, Wanganui, New Zealand. Workshop leader.
2006
Salem Community College Glass Center, NJ. USA. – from pate de verre to video
installation. (Breaking The Mould) Lecture.
2011
Dreaming into the land, archetypes of place, film project, Taos, New Mexico
2012
Artist Residency, Baer Arts Center, Hofsos, Iceland.
2014
Baer Arts Center, Hofsos, Iceland – project, Fragile Memories.
diana hobson 