Ann Robinson

Ann Robinson ONZM, is regarded as a significant leading New Zealand artist and continues to be at the forefront on the International Glass movement. In 2001 she was awarded the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM), and in 2006 a “life time” award for services to glass from the American Glass Society. She has been part of several solo and group exhibitions in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In 1998 her achievements were honoured by a major survey exhibition of her works, initiated by the Dowse Museum in New Zealand.

Ann Robinson’s glass work is part of high profile public, corporate and private collections including, Auckland Museum, New Zealand; Bellevue Public Library, Bellevue WA, USA; Corning Museum of Glass, Corning NY, USA; Dowse Gallery, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; Irvin J. Borowsky, Philadelphia, PA; Karen Johnson Boyd, Racine, Wisconsin; Robert McDougal Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand; Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington; Queensland Art Gallery, Australia; Stadtmuseum, Gottingen, Germany; Saint Paul Companies, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Coastal New Zealand provides a rich source of inspiration for Ann Robinson’s life and work. The forms and patterns in her glass works reflect the intensity of this rugged environment. Ever changing weather patterns and the sharp clear quality of New Zealand’s light creates an understanding and perception of colour, which she transforms in her vessels. Concerned with the timelessness of beauty, her personal poetry has centered on a deep love and reverence for nature. Robinson is currently recognised as one of the world leaders in the lost wax process, ‘cire perdu’. She uses the vessel as a metaphor through which she is able to reference a number of key elements important to her visual language. These elements relate to the historical, cultural and environmental influences conveyed through functional and aesthetic properties contained within the tradition of the vessel itself. Ann Robinson’s work continues to grow in strength with new forms and ideas continuously being explored.