Nick Mount Scent Bottle # 010406 820 x 1000 x 210 mm & Scent Bottle #080406 910 x 460 x 210 mm

In my experience of contemporary glass collections, I have been struck most often by a sense of boundary pushing as the primary voice in the work. As a ceramicist and textiles practitioner, I frequently find myself searching in the pieces for warmth, texture, something earthy and primitive and am confronted instead with slick, perfect surfaces and clean edges. While I am frequently impressed by the technical complications and excellence in much of what I see, I haven't found glass a medium to which I am particularly drawn. I could be persuaded otherwise by Nick Mount's latest collection of work from the Scent Bottle series. The shiny perfection and technical brilliance are very much a force to be reckoned with, but there is also whimsy, humour and a human warmth about many of these pieces, which I found to be entirely engaging.

Mount has been working on this series since 1997, the inspiration being the tiny, decorative scent bottles of a bygone era-which I notice are making a tentative reappearance in the accessory departments of some of the larger retail outlets. These works have little relation size-wise, many of them being imposingly large. But echoes of shapes, patterning and decorativeness from the originals still remain in the complexity of Mount's assemblages. The addition of other materials, both created and found, brings an intriguing and powerful addition to the works without appearing contrived. Mount, and partner Pauline-with whom he collaborated on this collection-have achieved a surprising and harmonious fusing of diverse elements to produce pieces of great integrity.

A major characteristic of all the pieces is the attention paid to surface decoration. All are comprised of various elements assembled to form the finished piece, often with a range of different decorative techniques, making for complex variations both within individual pieces and across the breadth of the exhibition. Delicate swirling sgrafitto winds around fine clear and translucent stem sections; small repeating motifs, inspired by Shibori patterns found in Japanese textiles, dance across the surface of larger sections, lightening their potentially weighty scale; murrini sections add a rich mosaic-like feel to the mid-sections of some pieces; fine stippled blobs of contrasting colour on a couple of the more figurative pieces reminded me of slip decoration on a pair of my favourite mugs. Additional materials include sticks, which have been polished to a fine gloss then transformed with the addition of fishing rod fittings, lures and cordage of various types. Contrasting with the natural variations of found sticks are carefully formed pieces of bent wood, arching through and above the solidly placed base section of the piece. Forged iron and silver make their appearance in differing manifestations of concepts already explored with timber, giving an entirely different dynamic to the completed work. Sections of cut glass within the assembly of a piece largely constructed of blown elements I found to be interesting but occasionally jarring, the sweeping lines of the blown components being interrupted by the solidly opaque-in most cases- and harder edged cut section. The contrast is dynamic, but I was drawn to those pieces that had more similar surfaces within them, finding the simplicity more appealing and having difficulty feeling the relationship between the more, to my eyes, discordant elements of geometric shapes juxtaposed with the more sensual curves of the blown elements.

The tensions created by the use of strings and twines stretched between the ends of the twigs playing out their role as fishing rods is fascinating. Scent Bottle # 010406 is particularly imposing; the rod pulled taut by the nylon line, and mounted high on a very tall plinth so that it is necessary to view the piece from below. This added an entirely different sense to the experience, the piece becoming, by virtue of this extra height, very imposing. It is possible to imagine not only the fisherman, but also the archer-both being such intrinsically masculine roles that it is hard to understand the connection to the definitely feminine inspiration of tiny scent bottles. At the same time, in other pieces, there is humour. The very figurative # 130406 and # 140406 , displayed together, are in whimsical dialogue, their 'heads' inclined towards each other. Likewise, but even more Dr Seuss-like, are # 020306 and # 010306 executed in brightly coloured opaque colours, stippled with contrasting spots. These prompted a spontaneous chuckle of amusement and drew me back repeatedly. Related, but different, were # 150406 , # 110406 and # 021202 , which were like a trio of mad birds, with that slightly conflicted combination of awkwardness, dignity, impressiveness and grace of the flamingo. These sculptural pieces, which pay the barest lip service to the notion of an actual scent bottle, are fun and entertaining, while still carrying elements of great technical challenge.

In a completely different vein, # 020406 and # 030406 featured a sweeping curve of bent timber inserted through the body of glass. They carried the eye over and above the works. They are dignified pieces, planted with a sense of solid substance on their plinths, lifted by the soaring curve of the wood, but without the tension of some of the other works. The warmth of the wood in conjunction with the glossy surface of the glass is interesting and surprisingly successful. Too often, combinations of disparate materials can end up looking as if the maker is trying too hard to make a statement for the sake of making the statement- because he/she can. In this instance, the blend is successful, the links in shapes and the sleek finish on the timber marrying well with the sheen of the glass. # 060406 , with its fine curve of polished silver, inserted high in the piece, and extending minimally beyond the top of the conical glass base, has an almost delicate appearance, the silver almost crown-like, like a fine filigree tiara. In contrast, the forged iron piece protruding inserted at a much lower point on a similar base on # 090406 , has all the feistiness of a horned Valkyrie helmet. Although it has a similarly shaped base element as those with the bent wood and the silver components, this one squats firmly on its plinth making a very definite statement of presence, while the others have more upward movement.

There is nothing neutral about any of these works. All of them make quite definite statements. The combinations of two or more on the same plinth made for very intriguing dynamics. The sense of each individual piece is infinitely changeable, depending on the viewpoint, so the combination of a number of pieces in close proximity to each other magnified the potential dialogue between the pieces themselves and that between work and viewer. The simple space offered by Sabbia gallery magnified this sense of dialogue. There are no hidden corners in the main space that would allow for coming across a piece accidentally. From the moment of entry to the space, the whole exhibition is spread out in front of the viewer. With plenty of space around each plinth, it is possible to view each work, or combinations of works, in the round without feeling cramped.

 

Viewing this collection of works was a rich experience with some unexpected discoveries. The benefits of Mount's recent residency in Japan are very evident in the cohesiveness of the collection, and the addition of fine surface patterning based on Japanese motifs. In her essay of 2002, Margot Osborne wrote of the Scent Bottle series, 'The Scent Bottles are a study of contrasts in meticulously calibrated balance-towering in scale yet intimate, spectacular from afar yet yielding jewel like detail to close inspection . ' This encapsulates the dichotomy to be found in these works. The elevation of the vessel to an art piece beyond its original purpose is always an intriguing step to take. At this stage of the development of the series, there is a far stronger sense of the sculptural in the finished pieces, rather than a sense of practical purpose. The dialogue between viewer and work becomes one of imagination and inspiration.

 

Osborne, M., http://www.nickmountglass.com.au , 2002.